ON FEBRUARY 4, 2016, $81 million was stolen by a cyberheist from Bangladesh Bank based in Wall Street, New York and transferred to four accounts in Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC)’s Jupiter Street, Makati.
The money was then claimed by the account holders. Most of the funds were never seen again, although $15 million was returned by Kim Wong, a junket operator who facilitated casino trips for well-heeled gamblers.
Bangladesh Bank quickly reported the theft to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) but unfortunately the funds had already been withdrawn from RCBC’s Jupiter Street Branch.
RCBC asserted at a televised Senate hearing in 2016 that the Jupiter Street Branch Manager, Maia Deguito, was responsible for the missing funds.
In 2019, Deguito was found guilty of eight counts of money laundering. Each count was subject to between four and seven years imprisonment. She was however, released on bail. There was no evidence that she profited from the robbery.
Also in 2019, the Department of Justice filed a money laundering case against other RCBC officials. These included RCBC’s Sales Director Ismael Reyes, Raul Tan, Head of RCBC’s Retail Banking Group, Regional Sales Director Brigitte Capiña, Customer Service Head Romualdo Agarrado, and Senior Customer Relationship Officer Angela Ruth Torres.
As far as I know, the case against these officials has not yet come to trial.
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In 2019, RCBC filed a defamation suit with the Makati Regional Trial Court against Bangladesh Bank in connection with the 2016 robbery. Eventually, on June 30 this year, the Makati Court dismissed the suit and demand for damages, saying that it has no authority over the defendant, which it described as a “foreign public corporation not doing business in the Philippines”.
In 2016, BSP carried out a special investigation and, as a result, fined RCBC P1 billion.
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This is a sad case.
Many salient details have not been reported.
Was it wise for RCBC to file a case against Bangladesh Bank?
After all, Bangladesh was the undisputed victim./PN
