A Philippine court has convicted former Bamban mayor Alice Guo of qualified human trafficking, sentencing her to life imprisonment for her involvement in operating a large scam centre that preyed on foreign victims. The ruling comes as Southeast Asian nations intensify efforts against cross-border criminal syndicates.
According to the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission, a regional trial court issued the guilty verdict against Guo, who has yet to comment publicly through her legal team. Before entering politics in 2022, Guo helped establish Baofu Land Development, the company that owned an eight-hectare (20-acre) compound in Bamban, north of Manila.
Two of Baofu’s incorporators—Chinese-born business partners Zhang Ruijin and Lin Baoying—were previously convicted in Singapore’s largest money laundering case. The Bamban complex operated as a Philippine offshore gaming hub employing hundreds of foreign workers and targeting bettors abroad.
Several workers reported being forced to run investment and romance scam operations, facing beatings or electrocution if they failed to meet quotas.
State prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas announced that seven other defendants were also sentenced to life in prison but withheld their names due to confidentiality rules. She noted that the court reached its decision within just over a year.
Guo, 35, was arrested in Indonesia in September 2024 after fleeing the Philippines. Although she had been elected mayor of Bamban, a Manila court ruled in June that she was ineligible to hold office because she was a Chinese citizen.
The verdict coincides with increased concerns among Southeast Asian leaders over the surge in cybercrimes and online scam networks. Last month, ASEAN leaders pledged to work together to stop the region from becoming a haven for transnational criminal groups.
In October, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed legislation banning offshore gaming operators, formalising a policy prompted in part by Guo’s case.
Guo and her associates also face money laundering charges, which she denies. Her lawyer has rejected claims from alleged casino tycoon She Zhijiang—extradited to China from Thailand last week—that Guo acted as an agent for the Chinese government.
