RCBC says verdict vs. ‘rogue’ manager proves RCBC is ‘the victim’

The guilty verdict against its former branch manager only proved that the bank has no hand in the $81-million bank heist in 2016, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) said Thursday.

Maia Santos-Deguito, a former manager at the RCBC Jupiter branch in Makati City, was found guilty of money laundering in connection with the cyber heist amounting to $81 million from Bangladesh central bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2016.

The Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 149 convicted Deguito of eight counts of violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act and acquitted her of one because it is similar to one of the eight other cases.

“The conviction of Maia Deguito is consistent with the bank's position that it is the victim in this situation and that Ms. Deguito is a rogue employee,” RCBC spokesperson Thea Daep said in a statement.

Deguito was given a four to seven-year imprisonment sentence for each count, and ordered to pay more than $109 million in fine. 

Any progress is always appreciated, but a more precise response can only be made on this once our legal team goes through the judgment details,” Bangladesh Ambassador to the Philippines Asad Alam Siam told GMA News Online.

In February 2016, unidentified hackers stole $81 million from Bangladesh central bank’s account at the New York Fed using fraudulent transfer orders on the SWIFT payments system.

The money was then coursed through to fictitious accounts at RCBC’s Jupiter branch and then remitted to several casinos.

After two years, there is no word on who was responsible and Bangladesh bank has been able to retrieve only about $15 million, mostly from a Manila junket operator, according to Reuters.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas fined RCBC a record P1 billion for it failed to prevent the movement of the stolen money through it.

Regulatory authorities are not thinking of imposing a fine on the RCBC at this point, just because of the recent decision, BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said in a separate text message.

“The Monetary Board has already imposed … monetary penalty on RCBC relative to anti-money laundering violations regarding Bangladesh Bank. So, no more fines in this regard,” said Fonacier, who is in charge of the Supervision and Examination Sector.

In November 2016, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) filed complaints before the Department of Justice against former RCBC treasurer Raul Victor Tan, National Sales director for Retail Banking Ismael Reyes, Regional Sales director for Retail Banking Brigitte Capiña, and Direct Sales director Nestor Pineda.

AMLC also sued RCBC Customer Service head for Jupiter Business Center Romualdo Agarrado and Senior Customer Relations Officer for Jupiter Business Center Angela Ruth Torres for their supposed involvement in laundering $81 million of the Bangladesh bank fund.

“There is another case being handled by DOJ against six other RCBC officials. We hope that this case could be expedited and go on trial soon for a decision,” Siam said.

Bangladesh Bank and RCBC pointed fingers at who was really at fault regarding the stolen money. Bangladesh’s central bank said it will file a lawsuit against the Philippine lender over its role in the cyber heist. 

RCBC retaliated and threatened to sue Bangladesh bank, saying it is perpetuating a “cover-up” and “using the Philippine lender as a “scapegoat to keep their people in the dark.” 

The Yuchengco-led lender also maintained that it will not compensate Bangladesh bank in connection to what happened. —With a report by Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News