The National Bureau of Investigation has submitted a complaint to the Department of Justice against former Mayor Alice Guo of Banban City, Tarlac Province, and her family for forgery and violating anti-falsehood laws.
Ferdinand Lavin, the Regional Director and spokesperson for the NBI in the National Capital Region, stated that Alice Guo, her sister Shiela, brother Siemen Guo, and parents Lin Wen Yi and Jian Zhong Guo are named in the complaint as they were the initiators of the company that purchased the land in Mangatarem, Pangasinan Province.
"They falsely claimed to be Filipino citizens, whereas the NBI, through forensic examination of various documents, fingerprints found in the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Bureau of Immigration, has sufficient evidence to prove they are Chinese citizens," Lavin said.
Lavin mentioned that since the Guo family are Chinese citizens, they are suspected of violating Philippine regulations concerning foreign ownership of property.
"The laws regarding foreign companies are entirely different. Philippine companies hold 65% ownership, but this is not recognized by the Philippine companies," Lavin stated.
Lavin noted that the Guo family's transactions involved four plots of land covered by three sales contracts.
He also stated that according to a certification obtained by the NBI from the village council, the Guo family falsely claimed to be residents of Bulacan Province.
"We are also conducting criminal forfeiture, which is the state's confiscation of assets or profits on land to support the government, or in this specific case, to support the NBI," Lavin said.
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Although no government agency is listed as a defendant in the indictment, Lavin said that the Guo family's purchase of property in the Philippines should serve as a lesson to government agencies.
"This is a wake-up call for all government regulatory bodies and other agencies, which is recorded in the ministerial records as kailangan i-register," Lavin said.
Guo insists she is a Filipino citizen and denies being the mastermind behind illegal gambling activities.
