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BFF-31
PHILIPPINES-BANGLADESH-HACKING-BANKING
Manila ex-banker gets jail, $109 mn fine over Bangladesh cyberheist
MANILA, Jan 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Philippine ex-banker was handed a lengthy
jail term and $109 million fine on Thursday in the first conviction over one
of the biggest ever cyberheists which saw $81 million stolen from
Bangladesh’s central bank.
Shadowy hackers transferred the cash in 2016 from Bangladesh’s US accounts
to Philippine bank Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC), where it was swiftly
withdrawn.
The theft exposed the Philippines as a haven for dirty money, where some of
the world’s strictest bank secrecy laws protect account holders from
scrutiny.
A Manila court found Maia Deguito, who was an RCBC branch manager where the
money landed, guilty on eight counts of money laundering which carry a
minimum of four years each behind bars.
The court also ordered her to pay $109 million in fines. Deguito plans to
appeal and can remain free on bail until the conviction is finalised.
Authorities charged that Deguito helped coordinate the transfer of the
money, which was taken from Bangladesh’s reserves account at the Federal
Reserve Bank in the United States.
Deguito is the only person who has been convicted in the case — which has
drawn international concern — her lawyer Demetrio Custodio told AFP, adding
that his client had been turned into a scapegoat.
“She could not have done this on her own. A bank the size of RCBC could not
have allowed a lowly bank officer to have planned this, so there are others
involved in this,” Custodio said.
RCBC said in a statement that it was a “victim” and that Deguito was a
“rogue” employee.
The Philippine justice department said the case was not closed, but could
not immediately provide details on other cases.
A North Korean hacker is also wanted by the United States on charges he and
a state-sponsored hacking crew masterminded the Bangladesh heist.
Only $15 million of the money was recovered after it landed in the
Philippines and was quickly dispersed.
Tens of millions of the loot disappeared into Manila’s casinos, which were
at the time exempt from rules aimed at preventing money laundering.
The Philippine central bank imposed a record $21 million fine on RCBC after
the discovery of the heist as it investigated the lender’s alleged role in
the theft.
The US reserve bank, which manages the Bangladesh Bank account, has denied
its own systems were breached.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1351 hrs