Philippines proceeds to resolve Bangladesh’s $81M stolen money

A Philippines state prosecutor has completed the primary investigation into the case of money laundering concerning the stolen $81 million Bangladeshi fund on Thursday.

Based on the prosecutor’s report, the Department of Justice is expected to decide on whether it will go the court or not.

The decision will be taken within this September, local Manila Bulletin reports on Thursday.

If the DOJ finds probable cause in the report submitted by Assistant State Prosecutor Gilmarie Fe Pacamarra, it will file a money laundering case before the courts against Philippine Remittance Service Corporation (Philrem) president Salud Bautista, her husband and company treasurer Michael ‘Concon’ Bautista, and compliance officer Anthony Pelejo; dismissed Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito; and Chinese casino junket operators Kim Wong also known as Kam Sin wong and Weikang Xu, the report said.

The complaints was filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and Earlier, the AMLC filed separate complaints against the respondents but was eventually consolidated and handled under Pacamarra.

The AMLC cited that investigation it conducted found that the stolen money were deposited in the fictitious bank accounts under Michael Cruz, Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, Alfred Vergara and Enrico Vasquez, all of which were opened on May 15, 2015 at RCBC branch on Jupiter Street, Makati City which was headed by Deguito.

Cyber criminals tried to steal nearly $1 billion from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in February, and succeeded in transferring $81 million to four accounts at Manila’s Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCB.PS).

The money was then laundered through the city’s casinos, according to investigators.

Only about $18 million, including $2.7 million frozen by the Philippines’ casino regulator, has been accounted for.