Dear PAO,

A few months ago, a former college classmate asked me if he could borrow my bank account. Since I had just returned from working abroad and wasn’t using my account with XXX bank, I declined his request. He approached me again a few weeks later, offering a significant amount of money. He even proposed paying double if I could provide another account belonging to a family member. Honestly, I was tempted to surrender to him my account and my wife’s bank account because we needed the money. But after much thought, I decided to decline again. Recently, I told my cousin about that offer. My cousin told me that this college classmate of mine has been involved in scams and online fraud. He also warned me that I could have ended up in jail had I given our bank accounts. Is it really possible for me to be held liable if I had actually lent my account and persuaded my wife to lend hers as well? I just want to know so we can be more careful in the future.

Dino

Dear Dino,

Bank and other financial account holders should always be vigilant not only in protecting their own accounts from unauthorized access but also from having their accounts used as a tool to commit crimes or offenses through social engineering schemes or as means of furtherance thereof.

A common illegal activity these days is the so-called money muling. Republic Act (RA) 12010, otherwise known as the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (Afasa), defines money muling as a form of financial account scamming, specifically:

“Section 4. Prohibited Acts. – The following acts shall constitute Financial Account scamming under this Act:

“(a) Money Muling Activities. – A person performing any of the following acts for the purpose of obtaining, receiving, depositing, transferring, or withdrawing proceeds that are known to be derived from crimes, offenses, or social engineering schemes shall be considered as a money mule:

“(1) Using, borrowing or allowing the use of a Financial Account;

“(2) Opening a Financial Account under a fictitious name or using the identity or identification documents of another;

“(3) Buying or renting a Financial Account;

“(4) Selling or lending a Financial Account; or

“(5) Recruiting, enlisting, contracting, hiring, utilizing, or inducing any person to perform the acts mentioned in items 1 to 4 of this subsection. x x x”

Applying the foregoing, we submit that you could have ended up in a legal predicament if you actually lent or sold your account to your former college classmate and it was utilized for the commission of crimes or offenses through any social engineering schemes. The same holds true if you contracted or persuaded your wife to allow the use of her bank account and it was utilized for the aforementioned unlawful purposes. It bears stressing that if you were found guilty, you would face imprisonment or a fine or both. It is explicitly provided under Section 16 of RA 12010:

“Section 16. Penalties. – (a) A person found guilty of the prohibited acts under Section 4(a) shall be penalized with imprisonment of not less than six (6) years but not more than eight (8) years, or a fine of at least One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) but not exceeding Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court. x x x

“(b) A person found guilty of any of the prohibited acts enumerated under Section 4(b) shall be penalized with imprisonment of not less than ten (10) years but not more than twelve (12) years, or a fine of at least Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) but not exceeding One million pesos (P1,000,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court: Provided, That the penalty of not less than twelve (12) years but not more than fourteen (14) years of imprisonment, or a fine of at least One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) but not more exceeding Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court, shall be imposed if the target or victim of the acts enumerated in Section 4(b) is a senior citizen at the time the offense was committed.”

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected].