PNP: 2 junket operators received Que ransom

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May 6, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The P200-million ransom paid by the family of slain Filipino-Chinese businessman Anson Que ended up in 10 different e-wallet accounts and was converted to cryptocurrency after passing through two junket operators, the Philippine National Police said yesterday.

PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil said the money moved quickly through various e-wallets and platforms and passed through junket operators 9Dynasty Group and White Horse Club, making it difficult to freeze it fast enough to prevent it from changing hands and getting laundered.

“It’s like a snake, if you freeze it now, it gets to move somewhere else the next moment,” Marbil said in Filipino during a press briefing at Camp Crame.

Que and his driver Armanie Pabillo were kidnapped in March, and their bodies dumped in Montalban, Rizal even after Que’s family had paid ransom.

“We already have a red notice against these people so that all countries are alerted, and they can either be denied entry (and the accounts) frozen and returned to the Philippines,” Marbil said.

Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, PNP spokesperson, said some of these accounts have been subpoenaed.

One foreign account, she said, holding around $79,800 had already been frozen, through international coordination.

Police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group director Brig. Gen. Bernard Yang said that two local virtual asset service providers have submitted user details under “know your customer” regulations.

Overseas, the PNP also issued a preservation order, and one company responded, confirming that a portion of the money had been frozen.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said one of the e-wallets involved was owned by a Chinese national arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in February for espionage.

That account, originally registered for gaming transactions, was found to have been used to help transfer the ransom funds.

“This e-wallet was only supposed to be used for gaming, but we saw it was also used for transactions tied to the kidnapping,” said AMLC director Emmett Manantan.

Despite the connection, Marbil said there is no evidence yet linking the espionage case to the Que kidnapping.

“What we are seeing is that junket operations are being used for money laundering and other illegal activities, but we haven’t found a direct connection between the kidnapping and espionage,” he pointed out.

“We’re showing how these e-wallets are used to launder money undetected,” Marbil said. “That’s why the wallet involved in this kidnapping was also used by someone arrested for espionage.”

Manantan also confirmed that much of the money remains in crypto wallets floating on blockchain, making the trail technically traceable but difficult to stop, especially when unregistered exchanges were used.

Meanwhile, the PNP confirmed that the reward for information leading to the arrest of Wenli Gong, also known as “Kelly,” has been increased to P10 million.

Gong allegedly served as the bait in the kidnapping plot and is believed to have managed the movement of the ransom from e-wallets to cryptocurrency platforms. Interpol has issued a red notice against Gong and two other suspects still at large. “As of now, Gong Wenli is still in the country,” Marbil said.

Aside from Gong, the others linked to Que’s kidnapping and killing were David Tan Liao, Richardo Austria, Reymart Catequista and Jonin Lin.