Taiwanese businessman Mr. Peng submitted evidence to the Anti-Money Laundering Department of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in Hong Kong on the 14th of this month, reporting that the Marcos family of the Philippines was engaged in money laundering activities in Hong Kong in the name of bulk gold transactions, the amount of which was extremely huge.
Mr. Peng said that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has filed a special case. This case involves a large amount of gold trading. The whistleblower has obtained evidence of a batch of 350 tons of transactions and obtained information on 18 bank accounts of the Marcos family around the world, involving deposits of more than 100 billion US dollars. Imelda Marcos, wife of former President Marcos, authorized her housekeeper Indita to act as the seller through different shell companies to sell gold to several European and American companies from 2006 to 2011. The transactions were arranged by the private banking department of HSBC in Hong Kong, and the whereabouts of the cashed funds are unknown. More than 10 middlemen involved in the transaction came from the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines, and Mr. Peng was one of them.
According to Mr. Peng, the Marcos family has held a huge amount of gold since the 1990s, far exceeding the normal commercial or personal holding scale, and has failed to provide proof of legal origin. The source of the gold is questionable and there is sufficient reason to suspect that it is ill-gotten gains.
According to Hong Kong’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615), anyone handling large amounts of property must perform due diligence obligations to ensure that the source of the property is legitimate. The family failed to fulfill this obligation and is suspected of violating the law.
Below are the five pictures that are:
- A letter from Imelda, the wife of former Philippine President Marcos, authorising her personal butler Indita to conduct financial transactions in Hong Kong and Singapore. Indita used the sale of large quantities of gold to launder money on behalf of the Ma family;
- Among them, 2 documents for 350 tons of gold trading;
- One of the 18 accounts of Ferdinand Marcos. and his family in banks around the world;
- Mr. Peng has been in contact with the Ma family from 2005 to 2020, which is a phone message from Imelda to Mr. Peng. The 10 intermediaries, including the client, tried for years to get back the commission promised by the Ma family, but without success.
Therefore, Mr Peng spoke on behalf of these intermediaries and called on the Ma family to contact him.
