Bangladesh Bank cyber heist

Wong to return $9.7m more

Wong makes pledge during the 4th hearing of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee of the Philippines

Casino junket operator Kim Wong yesterday promised to return P450 million or $9.73 million to Bangladesh, which was believed to be part of the aleged $81million stolen funds from the Bangladesh’s central bank, reports inquirer.net.Kim Wong made his promise when he was quizzed in the fourth hearing of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee on Tuesday. When the committee chair, Senator Teofisto Guingona III, asked the junket operator if he could commit to return the money, Wong’s camp said, “it would return a third tranche, amounting to P450 million within 15 to 30 days.” Wong’s lawyer, Victor Fernandez said it would take 15 to 30 days to raise some more funds before Wong could return another P450 million that was earlier borrowed by Chinese businessman Shuhua Gao. “According to Wong, he was even willing to sell properties to be able to raise the necessary money,” he said. Wong said he would return the money in cash. In his testimony last March 29, Wong said the P450 million was the money owed to him by Chinese businessman Shuhua Gao, whom he described as a junket agent. Wong said Gao, and another businessman Ding Zhize, had allegedly brought the stolen funds into the Philippines through Rizal Commercial Banking Corp on Jupiter Street, Makati City. Last week, it turned over $4.63 million to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) office in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) complex in Manila. AMLC Executive Director Julia Bacay-Abad said two counterfeit bills were found during the counting of P38.28 million that started at 11 a.m. and ended at 1 p.m. Abad and Wong’s lawyer, Victor Fernandez, said lawyer Inocencio Ferrer Jr. had to shell out P1000 to replace the fake banknotes. The P38.28 million was in denominations of P500 and P1,000, placed in a trolley bag, Abad said. The BSP cash department assisted in counting the money using machines that can detect fake banknotes. The turnover was witnessed by officials of AMLC, Bangladesh Bank (BB) and Bangladesh’s embassy in the Philippines. AMLC issued an acknowledgment receipt for the amount to be turned over to Bangladesh Bank. The money will be stored at the BSP’s vault for safekeeping, while the AMLC is making arrangements with the Bangladeshi government for its return, Abad said.

Bangladesh Bank cyber heist

Wong to return $9.7m more

Wong makes pledge during the 4th hearing of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee of the Philippines

Casino junket operator Kim Wong yesterday promised to return P450 million or $9.73 million to Bangladesh, which was believed to be part of the aleged $81million stolen funds from the Bangladeshs central bank, reports inquirer.net.Kim Wong made his promise when he was quizzed in the fourth hearing of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee on Tuesday. When the committee chair, Senator Teofisto Guingona III, asked the junket operator if he could commit to return the money, Wongs camp said, it would return a third tranche, amounting to P450 million within 15 to 30 days. Wongs lawyer, Victor Fernandez said it would take 15 to 30 days to raise some more funds before Wong could return another P450 million that was earlier borrowed by Chinese businessman Shuhua Gao. According to Wong, he was even willing to sell properties to be able to raise the necessary money, he said. Wong said he would return the money in cash. In his testimony last March 29, Wong said the P450 million was the money owed to him by Chinese businessman Shuhua Gao, whom he described as a junket agent. Wong said Gao, and another businessman Ding Zhize, had allegedly brought the stolen funds into the Philippines through Rizal Commercial Banking Corp on Jupiter Street, Makati City. Last week, it turned over $4.63 million to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) office in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) complex in Manila. AMLC Executive Director Julia Bacay-Abad said two counterfeit bills were found during the counting of P38.28 million that started at 11 a.m. and ended at 1 p.m. Abad and Wongs lawyer, Victor Fernandez, said lawyer Inocencio Ferrer Jr. had to shell out P1000 to replace the fake banknotes. The P38.28 million was in denominations of P500 and P1,000, placed in a trolley bag, Abad said. The BSP cash department assisted in counting the money using machines that can detect fake banknotes. The turnover was witnessed by officials of AMLC, Bangladesh Bank (BB) and Bangladeshs embassy in the Philippines. AMLC issued an acknowledgment receipt for the amount to be turned over to Bangladesh Bank. The money will be stored at the BSPs vault for safekeeping, while the AMLC is making arrangements with the Bangladeshi government for its return, Abad said.