The fraudulent transfer orders made by the electronic swindlers, who pilfered $81 million of Bangladesh Bank money from its accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, show that the fraudsters evidently did their homework.
The Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council is investigating six persons – Michael Francisco Cruz, Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, Alfred Santos Vergara, Enrico Teodoro Vasquez, William So Go and Kam Sin Wong (Kim Wong) – for their roles in the money-laundering scheme
Every one of the false payment instructions was made in the name of big-ticket development projects, Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.
Related stories:
* Portion of money hacked from BB’s US account recovered
* Bangladesh to sue US Federal Reserve
* Another attempt to steal $870m from BB foiled
For example, one transaction for $25-million was supposedly ordered by Bangladesh Bank on behalf of the government’s The Kanchpur, Meghna and Gumti 2nd Bridges Construction project. The amount was remitted to the account of Vasquez purportedly for the payment of a “loan” from Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
A payment for $30 million to Lagrosas, an IT professional, likewise under a Jica “loan,” was supposedly ordered on behalf of Dhaka Mass Rapid Trans Dev project.
A $6-million payment order on behalf of an IPFF project cell was supposedly to pay for Cruz’s consultancy fees.
Another payment worth $19 million was supposedly from Bheramara Combined Cycle Power Plant Development Project with Vergara as a beneficiary, citing “engineering consulting fees.”
It remains to be seen how the fraudulent orders slipped past the US financial system.
The transactions involved the New York Fed, where BB is an account holder, and US correspondent banks Citibank, The Bank of New York Mellon and Wells Fargo Bank.
Bangladesh Bank fund heist timeline