More than $30 million of the money hackers stole from the Bangladesh central bank's account at the New York Fed was handed over in cash to an ethnic Chinese man in Manila, a Philippines senator looking into the suspected laundering scheme said.
The cash deliveries over several days from a foreign exchange broker were made up of 600 million pesos ($12.87 million) and around $18 million, which altogether would have meant a haul of at least 780,000 banknotes.
"Obviously this is not one bang, it was done in instalments," Teofisto Guingona, head of the Philippine Senate's anti-corruption committee, told Reuters ahead of a panel hearing on the case that is due to open later on Tuesday.
Guingona said the transfers into RCBC were consolidated into one account and some of the money was converted to pesos.
CCTV cameras at the branch were not operating when the money was withdrawn, he said, but investigations have shown that it then went via a foreign exchange broker called Philrem Service Corp to the Chinese man and two casinos.
It was not immediately clear if the man was of mainland Chinese or Taiwanese nationality, Guingona said.
The senator said $29 million ended up in an account of Solaire, a casino resort owned and operated by Bloombery Resorts Corp (BLOOM.PS). Bloombery is controlled by Enrique Razon, the Philippines' fifth-richest man in 2015, according to Forbes.
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"We really don't comment on issues that are currently under investigation," Solaire Corporate Communications Head Nana Soriano said.
Senator Guingona said a further $21 million went to an account of Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co, a gaming firm in northern Philippines. Reuters tried several phone numbers to seek comment from Eastern Hawaii officials but was unable to reach any.
The heist took place between February 4 and February 5, when unknown hackers breached the computer systems of Bangladesh Bank and attempted to steal some $100m from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which it uses for international settlements.
The other transfers were blocked, but $81m went to accounts in a Manila branch of the RCBC, and was quickly further transferred. The bulk went to two casinos and an individual who is believed to be a junket operator.
Bangladesh Bank suspects the money that was transferred out was sent to the Philippines in four tranches and, once there, was diverted to casinos. It has said it is working with the anti-money laundering authorities in the Philippines to recover the funds.
Nearly half a million dollars believed to be part of the $81-million stolen funds from Bangladesh Bank has been packed into the car of Maia Santos-Deguito, the branch manager of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC), a witness told a Senate hearing on Thursday.
Romualdo S Agarrado, a reserve officer of RCBC who was at the branch at the time, told the hearing that a withdrawal slip for 20m pesos ($432,000) from one of the accounts was made out by the manager Maia Santos Deguito herself and cashed.
Agarrado cited her as saying at the time: "I would rather do this than me being killed or my family."
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday summoned Deguito to answer the criminal complaint filed against her and several others by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in connection with the $81 million stolen by hackers from the Bangladesh Bank (BB).
Aside from Maia Santos-Deguito, also summoned are Michael Francisco Cruz, Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, Alfred Santos Vergara, and Enrico Teodoro Vasquez. Cruz, Lagrosas, Vergara and Vasquez are allegedly fictitious names according to the AMLC.
Deguito and the others are required to appear before the DOJ on April 12 and 19.
The foreign exchange remittance company that converted into pesos the $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank Thursday apologised to the ambassador of the country and offered to return all proceeds it made from the transaction.
Speaking before the Philippines Senate blue ribbon committee, Philrem Services Inc president Salud Bautista said her firm would issue a check in the name of the government of Bangladesh representing her company’s earnings from the deal.
“We are sorry,” Bautista said, adding Philrem did not know the funds were stolen from Bangladesh.
On Tuesday, Guingona said that because casinos are not covered by the country's anti-money laundering laws it was not clear if the stolen funds could be recovered.
"The paper trail ends there. That is the problem," he said. "Right now we are at a dead end."