BB heist case not yet closed!

The $81-million cyber heist in Bangladesh Bank in 2016 is not yet a closed case, the Philippine Star reports quoting authorities.

A former Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) bank manager, Maia Deguito, was convicted for money laundering last week by a Makati City court.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed on Sunday that the criminal charges for money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) against six other RCBC officers remain pending before the office, the Star said.

The complaint filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) against former RCBC treasurer Raul Victor Tan, national sales director for retail banking Ismael Reyes, regional sales director for retail banking Brigitte Capiña, direct sales director Nestor Pineda, customer service head for Jupiter business center Romualdo Agarrado and senior customer relations officer for Jupiter business center Angela Ruth Torres has not been resolved by the DOJ, prosecutor general Richard Anthony Fadullon was quoted to have said.

“There is no resolution yet from the preliminary investigation earlier conducted on that case.”

Fadullon, however, could not say when the resolution on the charges filed in November 2016 will be released, according to the Star report. “We will check on the status of the case first before we can give a timetable on when the resolution could be released,” he reportedly explained.

The case pending with the DOJ means the possibility of another trial on the Bangladesh Bank heist in court should the prosecutors find probable cause to indict Tan and the other five respondents, said the report.

Tan, brother of former national treasurer and now Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. president Roberto Tan, resigned in April 2016 “out of decency and honour” while Torres was reportedly dismissed after she – along with Deguito – was found by RCBC to have been involved in the money laundering scheme, the report mentioned.

Bangladesh ambassador Asad Alam Siam has reportedly called on the DOJ to resolve the case against the RCBC officers as he revealed that the Bangladeshi government also plans to file a lawsuit in New York against the bank executives.

The AMLC accused Tan and the other respondents of criminal liability under Section 4(f) of AMLA over the laundering of the stolen money from Bangladesh Bank that shook the domestic financial system and gaming industry, added the report.

The AMLC filed similar charges against casino junket operators Kim Wong and Weikang Xu, Michael and Salud Bautista of money transfer firm Philrem and money laundering compliance officer Anthony Pelejo.

But, the report pointed out, the DOJ panel chaired by Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Emilie Fe delos Santos dismissed the charges for lack of basis.

Only Deguito has been indicted in court in this case.

Last week, as reports said, the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 149 found Deguito guilty of money laundering and sentenced her to four to seven years in prison for each of the eight counts.

The court was convinced that Deguito did not only facilitate the illegal bank transactions but also “coordinated and corroborated” their execution and implementation, said the report.
Deguito’s lawyer Demetrio Custodio said they will appeal the verdict.