An anti-money laundering body in the Philippines has filed charges against five officials of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC, 菲律賓中華商業銀行) and a former treasurer who “willfully ignored” suspicious activity that led to tens of millions of US dollars vanishing after a heist on Bangladesh’s central bank.
Unknown cybercriminals tried to steal nearly US$1 billion from Bangladesh Bank in February in what was one of the biggest bank heists ever.
They succeeded in transferring about US$81 million via an account at the New York Federal Reserve to four accounts in fake names at a branch of RCBC in Manila. Most of the cash was quickly withdrawn and laundered through multiple channels.
In a 97-page complaint to the Philippine Department of Justice, the Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council said former RCBC treasurer Raul Tan, three retail banking officials and two workers at the branch where cash was withdrawn were guilty of money laundering, because they should have noticed something was wrong and intervened immediately.
Only about US$15 million has been recovered and returned to Bangladesh, with a further US$2.7 million frozen. The rest of the funds changed hands several times and vanished in the Philippines’ casino industry.
No arrests have been made, despite investigations by the US FBI, Interpol, Bangladeshi police and authorities in the Philippines.
Tan resigned as the bank’s treasurer in April.
The council’s complaint, filed on Friday last week and seen by reporters yesterday covers three retail banking workers and two customer relations officers at the its Jupiter branch in Makati. The complaint was based on evidence gathered from the bank.
“Tan was in a position to order enhanced due diligence based on the red flags,” it said.
“Tan could have convened the anti-money laundering committee to act on these red flags,” the council said, adding that Tan “willfully ignored them and failed to conduct thorough investigation,” as required by law and the bank’s regulations.
Tan’s actions showed he had “knowledge that the funds transacted represented the proceeds of an unlawful activity,” it said.
RCBC said in a statement that its own probe had found no official from the head office involved in the transaction, which was initiated and carried out by the Jupiter branch.
“We welcome the charges as an opportunity to conclusively prove that our executives acted properly and had no knowledge or participation in any money laundering,” RCBC CEO and president Gil Buenaventura said.
Long-time RCBC client, casino owner and agent Kim Wong had admitted during a Philippine Senate inquiry that he received millions of the loot from two Chinese gamblers, but did not know it was stolen.
He has denied involvement in the heist and has returned US$15 million of about US$35 million he said he received.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI