A major breakthrough has been made in the recovery of money stolen from Bangladesh Bank's reserves in 2016, as the court has ordered $81 million to be seized from the Philippines' Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in the reserve theft case.
"The court issued the order last Thursday (18 September) to confiscate the funds held in the RCBC, over nine years after the theft," said Chief of CID Md Sibgat Ullah at a press conference in the city.
The head of the agency will hold a press conference at the CID headquarters to provide details on the matter.
On the night of February 4, 2016, $101 million was stolen from Bangladesh Bank's reserves at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Of this, $20 million was recovered from Sri Lanka. The remaining $81 million went through RCBC Bank and into various casinos in the Philippines.
The money was seized after nearly eight and a half years of legal proceedings and international cooperation.
CID hopeful of speedy repatriation
The CID held a press conference on Sunday, where they expressed hope that RCBC Bank will send the money back to Bangladesh as soon as possible to maintain its reputation.
A copy of the order has already been sent to top-ranking officials of the Philippine bank.
However, despite the court order, the CID delegation declined to comment further about how long it will take for the money to be returned, or whether the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation officially acknowledged the court order or not.
CID officials at the briefing refused to comment further, citing ongoing investigations.
Regarding the court order, it was said that a Bangladeshi court issued this order on Thursday to confiscate the money in the RCBC Bank of the Philippines.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court issued this order in response to the CID's application under Section 17(2)(7) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2012 (amended in 2015). The ruling was based on other evidence, including a Mutual Legal Assistance Request (MLAR) received from the Philippines.
It said its investigations confirmed that RCBC officials, including then-president and CEO Lorenzo Tan, branch manager Maia Santos Deguito of RCBC's Jupiter Branch in Makati City, along with other officials from RCBC's head office and Jupiter Branch, were complicit in opening fictitious accounts through which the stolen funds were funnelled.
Despite an official message from Bangladesh Bank instructing RCBC to stop payment, these officials proceeded to disburse the stolen funds illegally, said the CID.
"Courts in the Philippines have already convicted RCBC officials for their involvement, while the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central Bank of the Philippines) imposed significant penalties on the bank. On 16 February 2016, RCBC had returned only $68,000 to Bangladesh Bank, which was its first step toward repaying the stolen funds," it added.
The CID said its investigation, based on the evidence, determined that RCBC, as a corporate entity, committed money laundering in line with Section 27 of the Money Laundering Prevention Act.
The Dhaka court ordered that the entire $81 million confiscated from RCBC must be repatriated to the Bangladesh government's treasury, it added.
