Staff Reporter :
The branch manager of Philippine Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) Maia Santos Deguito, who was accused of helping to launder $81 million stolen from Bangladesh’s foreign reserves, may turn state witness for aiding the investigation into one of the largest bank heists in modern history.
RCBC authorities earlier sacked Deguito for her alleged link with the cross border money-laundering schema.
“She (Maia Santos Deguito) may turn state witness and seek protection under the Philippine government’s Witness Protection Programme “at the right time,” for aiding the investigation,” her lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, said in an interview on Friday, reports Bloomberg.
Topacio said, “We invoked my client’s right against self-incrimination very sparingly at the last Senate hearing because we want to help the government get to the bottom of this. She isn’t part of the grand conspiracy.”
The country’s Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Programme encourages anyone who has witnessed or participated in a serious felony to testify before a court or investigating body free from the risk of legal reprisals. The government will drop criminal charges against those who become state witnesses, Topacio said.
Investigators are seeking to track down hackers who attempted to steal almost $1 billion from an account of Bangladesh central bank held with US Federal Reserve Bank in February.
While authorities blocked most of the illicit transfers, $81 million ended up to four fictitious accounts opened with the RCBC’s Jupiter Street branch of Makati in Philippines, wired to remittance company Philrem Service Corp.
Almost all of the $81 million is still missing.
Deguito is now facing possible money-laundering charges after she allegedly allowed the funds to be withdrawn on February 5 and February 9 despite requests from Bangladesh to halt the transfers.
The Filipino banker gave closed-door testimony on the case to senators on March 17, but has declined to discuss the transfers at previous public hearings to avoid incriminating herself. The Department of Justice is currently investigating whether there is enough evidence to charge Deguito with money laundering.
Deguito told Senators on April 5 that she was just “”a pawn in a high-stake chess game played by giants in international banking.”
Referring to the Senate hearing, Topacio said his client’s testimony has been corroborated by Kim Wong, the casino junket operator who claimed to be an interpreter for two Chinese nationals linked to the stolen funds. Wong testified that he had introduced Deguito to some people who wanted to open bank accounts where the stolen funds were later deposited, Topacio said. Wong has denied any wrongdoing in the case.
Wong has turned over $5.46 million to regulators since March 31, which he said he received from the two Chinese nationals. He has promised to return another 450 million pesos within the month that he received from one of the men as repayment of a debt.
Deguito’s closed-door session with the senators helped the investigating committee connect the dots of the money laundering scheme, leading some lawmakers to call her a “credible witness,” the lawyer said.
Topacio said that those behind the heist had compartmentalized various portions of the plan, meaning that his client didn’t know that the accounts, opened in May 2015, would later receive stolen funds from Bangladesh.
“I was cynical at first when she said she didn’t get a penny,”‘ Topacio said. “But she told me that as a banker who was earning 2 million pesos ($43,000) a year, she didn’t need the money.”
The lawyer said his client expects to earn 30 million pesos more in the next 15 years, an amount that would profit-sharing and bonuses, adding that she said “I’m not the breadwinner and my husband is gainfully employed. Will I dare to bring shame to my family?”
