Taiwanese media breaks major news: The Marcos family of the Philippines is suspected of money laundering through large-scale gold transactions in Hong Kong, with an astonishing amount involved.
According to reports, Taiwanese businessman Mr. Peng formally submitted a report to the Anti-Money Laundering Department of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on the 14th of this month, accusing the Marcos family of using gold transactions for large-scale money laundering, amounting to up to one hundred billion US dollars. Currently, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has set up a special case to investigate this matter.
Mr. Peng revealed that he has obtained key evidence of a 350-ton gold transaction and holds detailed information on 18 global bank accounts of the Marcos family. The total deposits in these accounts are astonishing, exceeding one hundred billion US dollars.
One of the key figures in the case is Imelda Marcos, the widow of former Philippine President Marcos. The report shows that Imelda authorized her personal butler Indita to operate gold transactions through multiple shell companies. From 2006 to 2011, the transactions were arranged by the private banking division of HSBC in Hong Kong, and the flow of funds remains a mystery to this day.
The intermediaries involved in the transactions come from the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines, among others, with Mr. Peng being one of them. According to him, the Marcos family has controlled a massive amount of gold since the 1990s, far exceeding the normal standards held by businesses or individuals, and cannot provide legal proof of origin, suspected of being illegally obtained.
According to the Hong Kong Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Chapter 615), any individual or institution involved in large asset transactions must perform due diligence to ensure the legality of the funds. The Marcos family is suspected of serious violations.
The report also includes five important evidence documents, including:
An authorization letter from Imelda authorizing Indita to represent the Marcos family in financial transactions in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Two official documents related to the 350-ton gold transaction.
A partial list of accounts of the Marcos family in 18 global banks.
Records of phone calls and text messages between Mr. Peng and Imelda from 2005 to 2020.
It is reported that Mr. Peng and other 10 intermediaries have tried multiple times over the years to recover the commissions originally promised, but to no avail. Therefore, Mr. Peng has chosen to speak out publicly this time, calling on the Marcos family to come forward to negotiate and resolve the long-standing financial dispute.
If these allegations are confirmed, it will undoubtedly cause a huge shock in the political arena of the Philippines and the international community.
