Manila's Department of Justice said in a statement that Alice Guo, a former Philippine mayor who had been a fugitive on suspicion of ties to Chinese crime syndicates, had been arrested in Indonesia.
Guo, also known as Guo Huaping, a Chinese national, is wanted by the Philippine Senate for refusing to appear at a congressional investigation into his criminal connections. He denies the charges, saying he is a natural-born Filipino citizen and faces “malicious accusations.”
The Justice Department said the arrest was confirmed by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, adding that Guo was “in the custody of the Indonesian police at Jatanras Mabes Polli.”
Guo was arrested in the Indonesian city of Tangerang, Jakarta, late on Tuesday night, the agency said.
Philippine law enforcement agencies, including the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), jointly filed multiple money laundering charges with the Department of Justice last month against Guo and 35 others. The AMLC alleges that Guo and his co-conspirators laundered more than 100 million pesos ($1.8 million) in criminal proceeds.
Philippine anti-crime officials said Guo, who was fired as mayor of Bambang town in Tarlac province, is suspected of using a Philippine passport to flee to Malaysia and Singapore in July, and then to Indonesia in August.
The Senate investigation into her affair began in May after authorities raided a casino in the town of Bambang in March and uncovered what law enforcement officials said was fraud taking place at the facility built on land partly owned by the mayor.
Authorities found about 1,000 workers, including human trafficking victims, as well as luxury villas, luxury cars and expensive cognac.
Guo's whereabouts were unknown for some time and a Senate warrant had been issued for her arrest after she failed to attend the hearing. Her lawyers said the hearing had left her traumatized, including by the reaction on social media, where her answers were widely mocked.
During a previous hearing by senators, Guo appeared unable to answer questions about her childhood. She had said she grew up on a pig farm in Bambang and was homeschooled by a teacher named Ruby Lin. School records uncovered by senators also seemed to contradict her claims about where she was educated.
The mayor has struggled to provide specific information about her childhood, with the president saying in May, “We're stumped. Where did she come from?”
The Election Commission later found that the fingerprints on Guo's election records matched those of a Chinese national, prompting one senator at a hearing to accuse him of being a Chinese spy or criminal.
Guo said she was not a spy but a natural-born Filipina national, the “love child” of a Chinese man and a Filipina woman who was his wife's assistant.
