Carpio-owned firm Cale88 has 'symptoms of money laundering': witness

The rapid movement of Cale88 Food Corp.’s funds, a firm partly owned by Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband, Mans Carpio, exhibited a pattern similar to money laundering, where money comes in and out either on the same day or the following day without adding value to the company’s revenue, a witness told the Senate impeachment court Monday.

Forensic financial analyst Alexander Cabrera, a lawyer and certified public accountant, described the pattern as a “revolving door,” one of the “symptoms of money laundering.”

Despite this, he stopped short of concluding that Cale88 was engaged in such illicit activities.

According to Cabrera, the “revolving door” scheme occurs when a company or business entity is used as a “pass-through” or “point of entry” for money from other sources, making it appear that the funds were funneled into it, but it exits shortly afterward.

“That’s why I call it a revolving door. Money comes in and goes out. That is exactly what happens in typical money laundering transactions,” he explained.

“Again, this is not included in my report, and I am not saying there is money laundering here. I am merely pointing out a symptom: when funds enter the company and leave the same day or the next day, they added no value to the company,” Cabrera added.

Cabrera reached this conclusion after Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo asked him about suspicious financial activities linked to the couple.

Cale88 is a banana chip maker and exporter incorporated in 2021. Carpio served as an incorporator, director, and shareholder of the corporation from 2021 to 2024 and held a 47.5 percent ownership stake.

Sara still declares Cale88 as bizz interest

In 2025, however, Carpio’s name was no longer listed in the company’s general information sheet (GIS), although Duterte still disclosed Cale88 as one of her business interests in her 2025 SALN.

A certain Pikimong Philippines Corp. replaced Carpio, but there was no record of an electronic certificate authorizing registration showing the valid transfer of Carpio’s interest to Pikimong. The transfer of taxes was also allegedly not settled.

Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner chief of staff Anne Loraine Garcia-Marquez told the impeachment court last week that although the law on contracts may still apply to the transaction in question, the non-payment of transfer taxes effectively leaves Cale88 still under the previous owner’s name.

According to Cabrera, Cale88 possessed no manufacturing records, such as raw material inventory, which is essential for producing goods like banana chips. Without these, it is mathematically impossible to have finished products to sell.

“There are no finished goods you can make if there is no raw material inventory at the end of the year. So, you need this for the business to continue,” he said.

While it’s possible that Cale88 subcontracted manufacturing to another company, Cabrera pointed out that there were no records of such arrangements or orders, further casting doubt on the legitimacy of the business operations.

Beyond that, Cabrera emphasized that the corporation also lacks the property, plant, and equipment needed to sustain a manufacturing business, especially given that it generates hundreds of millions in revenue.

“But like what I said to them earlier, money coming in and money going out because the business doesn’t use money is a symptom of money laundering. But I'm not saying that it's conclusive that there is money laundering that is happening here,” he stressed.

Tulfo noted that one noticeable red flag is that Cale88 consistently reports net losses every year, yet it receives massive inflows of money. More strikingly, the lawmaker noted that this money is remitted by “high-risk countries” linked to money laundering.

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China remits largest share

Records disclosed to the Senate impeachment court showed that Cale88 received remittances totaling P22.462 million from nine foreign countries, with the lion’s share coming from China with P193.96 million.

Ukraine followed with P7.64 million, and Russia with P6.40 million.

Next is Kazakhstan (P3.62 million) followed by Lithuania (P3.11 million), South Africa (P3.05 million), Tajikistan (P1.91 million), Hong Kong (P1.70 million) and lastly, the United Arab Emirates (P1.24 million).

“Now, it really defies logic and simple common sense that you lose every year and yet a lot of money comes in…Why is that? Why do they still continue doing business?” Tulfo asked.

Cabrera responded that money is likely “not related to business.”

Another factor that raises suspicion is that, despite the financial losses, Cale88 recently published an advertisement to hire more employees, Tulfo stressed.

Earlier, Senator-judge Joel Villanueva also raised concerns about Cale88, which has just P125,000 in paid-up capital, with only two employees generating P150.77 million in sales in 2024 while incurring P6.13 million in losses.

Villanueva flagged it as “alarming,” while Marquez described such a skeletal workforce as “impossible.”

“I’m not saying I’m presuming this is a fictitious operation. Just alarming,” Villanueva stressed.

Citing an audited financial statement, Villanueva said Cale88 reported P23 million in gross sales, P3.33 million in direct labor, and P205,000 in salaries and wages in 2023 alone.

Cabrera was the prosecution's last witness before it rested its case.

The trial will be paused starting 14 October and is likely to resume on 9 November, when the defense will begin presenting exhibits and, subsequently, its evidence and witnesses.