Bangladesh is going to court here in Manila today or tomorrow seeking to recover about 10 million US dollars out of 81 million stolen from Bangladesh Bank reserves in March.
Bangladesh ambassador to the Philippines James Gomez told The Independent that Bangladesh would get the entire amount since it had been identified that the entire amount had gone through the channel of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). The latter’s officials have confirmed it at a Philippines Senate hearing; so, they are legally bound to return the money, the ambassador explained.
So far, only one of the accused, a Chinese man named Kim Wong, has returned his share of the money in three instalments following repeated summons at the senate hearing.
A source in the senate administration said that on Tuesday, at the sixth hearing, a branch manager of the RCBC, Maya Santos Deguito, admitted for the first time that such a shocking money laundering case had taken place due to negligence and inexperience.
Her admission before the senate provided a legal basis to prove the involvement of RCBC, remarked a senator.
Earlier, the chief of the senate, Blue Ribbon Committee senator Teofisto Guingona, had said that the accused had been trapped one after another. “They will all be brought to justice and we are trying to return the entire amount to Bangladesh,” he had added.
A Bangladesh embassy official involved in the process of recovering the money told The Independent that whatever casino junket operator Wong or money changer Pilram or others were returning was “extra money”.
“However, we are asking for the return of the entire USD 81 million from the RCBC,” he added. The entire amount stolen from Bangladesh Bank reserves was recovered from four bank accounts of RCBC. The accounts belonged to the friends of the casino junket operator Kim Wong. They run casinos in several regions, including the Philippines, China, Hong Kong and Macau. When one of Wong’s friends incurred a heavy loss in the casino business in Macau, Wong lent him some money. The investigating team in the Philippines has information that this friend had returned the money from the stolen Bangladesh reserves.
Wong had skipped the early hearings of the senate. But later, under pressure, he started returning the money. He returned USD 4.63 million in the first phase, USD 0.83 million in the second, and USD 4.37 million in the last phase, which was on Tuesday. He has already returned about USD 6 million.
Officials said he would return about USD 14 million in all.
According to the information given by Wong, Pilram hasUSD $17 million. Bangladesh officials have now started pressing Pilram to return the money.
The owner and officials of Pilram on Tuesday said they have converted the dollars into the Philippine Peso as per rules. They claimed that this does not prove the allegation of money laundering against them or their involvement in the heist. They did not do any wrong, they maintained.
Embassy officials said they are holding talks with Pilram. “Pilram has agreed to return USD 13 million, but we have sought the total USD 17 million. Negotiations are on,” they said.
Local sources said a money laundering case has already been filed against Wong. All records of big bank transactions of his have been seized along with all money transactions at the casino.
Wong generally lends hefty amounts of money from the casino. However, members of the local investigating team believe he played a big role in the stealing of the money. Now they are gathering documents to establish the allegations.
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Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.