The Philippines still faces a money laundering risk even after the recent ban on the offshore POGO industry came into effect this month, with the ability of illegal operators to pose instead as call or data centers potentially placing the nation’s efforts to exit the global AML grey list at threat, according to Moody’s analyst Choon Hong Chua.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Chua said Philippine authorities could not afford to rest on their laurels post-POGO with many illicit operators seen trying to maintain their existence across alternative sectors.
“There are still inherent risks, and it’s not just the underground online gaming,” Chua, who is head of the ratings agency’s financial crime practice group for Asia Pacific and the Middle East, told Bloomberg. “We’ve seen examples in the past when some of the scam centers were masquerading as call centers and data centers.”
