CA affirms conviction of ex-bank manager over Bangladesh bank heist

The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the conviction of a former branch manager of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), who has been found guilty of money laundering in connection with the cyber heist of $81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank in 2016.

The CA dismissed the appeal of former branch manager Maia Deguito and upheld the Joint Decision dated January 10, 2019 and the Resolution dated September 20, 2019.

“In light of the above conclusions, there is no doubt that the prosecution was able to prove that Deguito is guilty of eight counts of violation of Section 4 (f) of R.A. No. 9160, as amended. Thus, the Court finds no need to further discuss the other issues raised by the parties,” it stated.

The Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 149 earlier convicted Deguito of eight counts of violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act and acquitted her of one due to its similarity with one of the eight other cases.

She was sentenced to four to seven years imprisonment for each count and ordered to pay more than $109 million in fine.

Government charges filed in 2017 alleged that Deguito facilitated the transfer of laundered money from the Bangladesh Bank to multiple accounts under four fictitious names at the RCBC branch on Jupiter Street, Makati City in February 2016.

Deguito’s co-accused, account holders Michael Francisco Cruz, Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, Alfred Santos Vergara, and Enrico Teodoro Vasquez, were later found to be fictitious. -- BAP, GMA Integrated News