Philippine court freezes 25 crypto wallets and 86 bank accounts in flood control kickback probe

The Philippine Court of Appeals freezes 116 financial assets, including 25 crypto wallets and 86 bank accounts, linked to an unnamed prominent lawmaker under a plunder investigation. The probe, initiated in 2025, targets alleged kickbacks from government flood-control projects. The Anti-Money Laundering Council reveals that funds were routed through complex layers of intermediaries and digital platforms to obscure their origins, highlighting the growing role of virtual assets in corruption schemes.

Details of the asset freeze order

• ▪The September 21, 2026 freeze order covers 86 bank accounts, 25 virtual asset wallets, four investment accounts, and one insurance policy linked to the lawmaker and associated parties.
• ▪The Anti-Money Laundering Council announced the freeze order on October 1, 2026, but withheld the identities of the lawmaker and associated parties due to legal confidentiality protections.
• ▪The September 21, 2026 freeze order does not disclose the financial value, blockchain addresses, or specific cryptocurrencies held in the 25 frozen virtual asset wallets.
• ▪The Philippine Court of Appeals issued a freeze order on September 21, 2026, targeting 116 financial assets linked to an unnamed prominent lawmaker under investigation for plunder.

Legal framework for freeze orders

• ▪Philippine Supreme Court rulings dictate that a freeze order is an interim measure that does not establish criminal guilt and must be limited to the value connected to the offense.
• ▪Under the Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Act, Court of Appeals freeze orders are initially valid for 20 days and can be extended by the court up to six months.
• ▪The legal basis for the September 21, 2026 freeze order is Republic Act No. 7080, the Philippines' Plunder Law, which requires establishing probable cause connecting assets to plunder.

The flood-control scandal

• ▪Earlier rounds of asset freezes in the Philippine flood-control scandal have already covered sums totaling tens of billions of pesos.
• ▪The asset freeze is part of a plunder investigation into alleged kickbacks from government flood-control projects, a corruption scandal that first emerged in the Philippines in 2025.

Tracking of suspected cryptocurrency funds

• ▪In December 2025, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center official Renato Paraiso reported that investigators were tracking $50 million to $100 million in suspected flood-control corruption funds converted into USDT.
• ▪Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center official Renato Paraiso stated in December 2025 that the Anti-Money Laundering Council recovered some USDT after an offshore exchange voluntarily froze a suspicious transaction.

How the suspicious transactions were conducted

• ▪The Anti-Money Laundering Council stated that funds were routed through individual intermediaries, corporations, bank accounts, a money service business, and virtual asset platforms to obscure their origins.
• ▪Investigators flagged the transactions after finding that the individuals and entities associated with the lawmaker had no apparent operating revenues sufficient to support the scale of the identified investments.

Proposed and existing dam projects

• ▪National Irrigation Administration Administrator Eddie Guillen proposed building 18 dams across major river basins at an estimated cost of ₱180 billion to address flood control, water security, and irrigation.
• ▪The Philippines currently operates 21 major and large dams, alongside approximately 15 run-of-the-river hydropower systems that contribute 566 megawatts of capacity.
• ▪Proposed mega-dam projects in the Philippines, such as the Kaliwa Dam and the Maton Pumped-Storage project, face significant pushback from environmentalists and Indigenous communities over ecological and land rights concerns.

Debatable claims

• ▪Virtual asset platforms do more harm than good by enabling the laundering of public funds
• ▪Building mega-dams is an effective way to solve the Philippines' flooding challenges
• ▪The Philippines should disclose the identities of lawmakers under investigation for plunder