POGO-linked Alice Guo faces new tax evasion case in Philippines
Former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo will now face fresh legal trouble after Philippine tax authorities filed a new criminal case accusing the former mayor of evading more than PHP1 billion ($16.3 million) in taxes, adding to the growing list of allegations linked to the country’s former offshore gaming sector.
Reportedly, the Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) confirmed that it had filed a new criminal complaint with the Department of Justice, accusing Guo of tax evasion and failing to submit Annual Income Tax Returns between 2019 and 2023.
According to the bureau, the case involves an estimated tax deficiency of more than PHP1.008 billion ($16.3 million), including penalties, surcharges and interest. It is the largest among five criminal tax cases recently filed by the BIR, which together involve an estimated PHP1.46 billion ($23.7 million) in unpaid taxes.
New investigation opened
The investigation began after Guo appeared before a Philippine Senate hearing in May 2024. The hearings were over a raid conducted at a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) compound in Bamban, Tarlac, where authorities discovered a large-scale operation allegedly linked to online scams and other illegal activities.
During the hearing, Guo accepted that she owned various properties, vehicles and interests in several companies. That testimony prompted tax investigators to take a closer look at her financial records.
Authorities later identified a wide range of assets linked to Guo, including real estate holdings, bank transactions, motor vehicles, company shares and even a helicopter. According to the BIR, records showed that she failed to file income tax returns for five consecutive years despite significant documented spending during that period.
Investigators estimated Guo’s income by examining her spending patterns and financial transactions. The BIR said the documents it reviewed did not sufficiently account for the scale of the transactions identified, which it claims points to undeclared income.
Already convicted of several charges
The tax case arrives just days after another major setback for Guo. The former mayor was recently convicted of qualified human trafficking alongside seven co-defendants accused of operating illegal activities linked to a former POGO hub. Prosecutors argued that foreign workers had been recruited and exploited through an online scam operation that allegedly operated under the cover of licensed gaming businesses.
The ruling carries a life sentence under Philippine law, while Guo was also fined PHP2 million ($35,400). Despite the verdict, her legal team says the fight is far from over and is already preparing an appeal. Her lawyers have also asked the court to allow her to stay at the Pasig City Jail Female Dormitory for now rather than move her to the national women’s prison.
Guo has been under the radar since the authorities raided the Bamban compound in 2024. Her name first emerged in the investigation following a 2024 raid on a POGO-linked compound in Bamban. Investigators later found that the land on which the facility was operating had previously been owned by Guo.
With fresh tax charges now added to a human trafficking conviction, Guo remains at the centre of a case that continues to draw national attention and fuel debate over the legacy of the Philippines’ former POGO industry.
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