BSP: Antifraud law may target corrupt officials again 

After being tested in a high-profile scandal involving anomalous flood control projects, a Marcos-era antiscamming law that criminalized the use of financial accounts to move illicit funds could again be used to probe suspected graft and corruption in the future, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

But the central bank added that looser bank secrecy rules are still needed to widen scrutiny of other suspicious activities. Officials said the overlap between the two legislations could give authorities greater legal latitude to pursue a broader range of financial crimes.

Speaking to reporters last week, Roberto Figueroa, the central bank’s general counsel, said the BSP may invoke the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act, or Afasa, again to trace illicit fund flows if criminals—including corrupt public officials—used financial accounts to move the proceeds. The 2024 law prohibits such acts, which it calls “money muling.”

This, Figueroa said, could provide enough legal basis for graft and corruption investigations. Under Afasa, convicted offenders face six to eight years in prison and fines of P100,000 to P500,000, as well as civil liabilities that may include restitution and forfeiture of assets used in the crime.

“If you’re a scammer, a fraud, a money launderer or a politician engaged in graft and corruption, the reality is the money that you will embezzle will have to be transferred somewhere,” he said. “And in most instances, that would involve the use of a financial account.”

The BSP first applied Afasa in the expanding probe into fraudulent flood control projects, which have implicated lawmakers, Cabinet members and government engineers.

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But despite the current legal cover, Figueroa said the BSP was still throwing its weight behind proposals to ease bank secrecy rules to allow authorities to probe other suspicious activities that may fall outside the scope of Afasa.

Proposals to relax secrecy rules also include harsher penalties for offenders. The version approved by the Lower House last year, along with several bills filed in the Senate, could impose imprisonment of not less than two years but not more than 10 years, fines ranging from P50,000 to P2 million, or both, at the court’s discretion.

“That could cover any kind of investigation for any other crime,” Figueroa said. “Under Afasa, it’s really just for Afasa violations.”