Bangladeshi envoy urges speedy case after money laundering indictment report

Maia S. Deguito, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) branch manager. AP FILE PHOTO

The Bangladeshi envoy to Manila welcomed reports that the Justice Department will indict former Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) branch manager Maia Deguito and the owners of shuttered money changer Philrem Corporation for money laundering due to last year’s P81-million cyberheist from the South Asian nation.

In a text message to the Inquirer, Ambassador Asad Alam Siam also urged the government to speed up the judicial process to help deter future crimes of this nature.

“We welcome today’s developments. We had been eagerly waiting that the legal process — both with the civil and criminal cases — begins soonest possible,” Siam said. “We urge that the judicial process of these and future cases regarding the heist at the courts will be put on fast track as cases of serious public interest since it involves our public money.”

It was reported by ABS-CBN News on Monday afternoon that the Department of Justice resolved to indict several individuals accused of participation in the crime for violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Government probers said it found probable cause to charge Deguito; Philrem owners Michael and Salud Bautista; Philrem official Anthony Pelejo; and several “John Does” behind the fictitious RCBC accounts Michael Francisco Cruz, Jessie Christopher M. Lagrosas, Alfred Santos Vergara and Enrico Teodoro Vasquez which were used to launder the stolen funds.

Casino junket operator Kim Wong was absolved from the DOJ charge sheet, after he returned $15 million to the Anti-Money Laundering Council, saying he was unaware that the funds brought in by his Chinese clients were illegally sourced.

Siam stressed that other civil cases remain pending at the higher courts and that his government hoped that these would also be decided soon.

“This is the biggest money laundering crime and therefore should be given absolute priority so that everyone gets the message that there is no impunity however big the involved institutions or person’s are,” the Bangladeshi ambassador said.