Alice Guo, a fugitive former mayor in the Philippines accused of having links to Chinese criminal syndicates, has been arrested in Indonesia, Manila’s justice ministry has said in a statement. Guo, also known as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, is wanted by the Philippine Senate for refusing to attend a congressional probe on her alleged criminal ties. She has denied the accusations, insisting she is a natural-born Philippine citizen facing “malicious accusations”. The arrest was verified by the Philippines immigrations department, the justice ministry said, adding that Guo was “in the custody of the Indonesian police at Jatanras Mabes Polri”. Guo was arrested close to midnight on Tuesday in Tangerang city in Jakarta, Indonesia, the department said. Philippine law enforcement agencies, including the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), last month jointly filed multiple counts of money laundering against Guo and 35 others before the Department of Justice. The AMLC has alleged that Guo and her co-conspirators laundered over 100m pesos ($1.8m) in proceeds from criminal activities. Guo, who was removed from office as mayor of Bamban town in Tarlac province, had allegedly fled the country in July, travelling to Malaysia and Singapore, then Indonesia in August using her Philippine passport, the Philippine anti-crime agency has said. A Senate probe into her affairs began in May after authorities raided a casino in Bamban town in March, uncovering what law enforcement officials said were scams being perpetrated from a facility build on land partially owned by the mayor. Authorities found about 1,000 workers, including victims of human trafficking, along with luxury villas, high-end cars, and expensive cognac. Guo’s whereabouts had been unknown for some time and was the subject of a senate arrest warrant due to her non-attendance at a hearing. Her lawyer said she had been traumatised by the hearings, including the reaction on social media, where her responses have been widely mocked. At a previous hearing before senators Guo seemed unable to answer questions about her childhood, which she said she spent growing up on a pig farm in Bamban and being homeschooled by a teacher named Rubilyn. Schooling records found by a senator also seemed to contradict her claims about where she was educated. The mayor struggled to provide concrete information regarding her childhood, leading the president to say in May: “We’re puzzled – where did she come from?” The election commission then found that the fingerprints on her election records matched those of a Chinese citizen. One senator levied allegations during the hearings that Guo could be a Chinese spy or a criminal. Guo has said she was not a spy but a natural-born Philippine national who was born as “the lovechild” of a Chinese man and his wife’s helper, who was a Filipina.