2016’s infamous Bangladesh Bank Heist is back on Philippine headlines now that the former Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) branch manager linked to the crime has been found guilty of money laundering.
Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 149 Judge Cesar Untalan found Maia Santos-Deguito guilty beyond reasonable doubt earlier today, Rappler reported.
The report added that Deguito will be sentenced to four to seven years in prison for each of the eight counts of money laundering she was charged with. She was also fined a total of US$109 million, ABS-CBN News reported.
Deguito served as the manager of the bank’s Jupiter Makati branch, CNN Philippines reported. She was involved in processing dirty money stolen by unidentified hackers from the Bangladesh Bank’s account at the United States Federal Reserve in New York in February 2016.
A total of US$101 million was stolen from the bank, according to Reuters. Fraudulent money transfers amounting to US$81 million were sent to fake accounts in Manila-based RCBC accounts, while US$20 million was intended for a bank account in Sri Lanka, but the money was salvaged due to a typographical error by the hackers.
By the time the cyber heist was discovered, it was already too late as the money had already disappeared into the casino industry in the Philippines, multiple reports state.
The stolen funds were reportedly passed on to money transfer firm Philrem Service Corporation (Philrem) for conversion and distribution, but in 2017, the Department of Justice (DOJ) junked the complaint against its executives, leaving Deguito to face the charges, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
Deguito said in a Senate probe in 2016 that she was being set up to be the scapegoat, ABS-CBN News reported.
“Truly, a crime of this magnitude could be possible only with the participation of people from the highest officialdom of the bank in cahoots with extremely wealthy businessmen whose far-reaching powers and influence span several countries,” she said in a statement read during the probe.
In 2017, Deguito’s lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio said in a statement that the DOJ had a “laughable conclusion that a mere bank manager stole US$81 million from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Bangladesh, and laundered it through the Philippine banking system and the casino complex, all by her lonesome self.”
“As usual, wealthy bankers and businessmen have bought their way out of the reach of justice,” he added, as quoted by Interaksyon.
