Staff Reporter :
The Philippines Senate blue ribbon committee plans to “close the chapter” on the involvement of Filipino-Chinese businessman William Go at the third hearing on the $81-million Bangladesh Bank fund heist on March 29.
Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III bared the agenda of the March 29 hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee, which he chairs, on the heist which has turned out to be the biggest recorded money laundering incident in Philippine history.
“We would like to close the chapter of William So Go during the next hearing,” Guingona said in an interview with the Rappler.com, a news website based in the Philippines.
He added that the Senate panel will also focus on the judgment lapse of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in facilitating the release of the stolen funds, and the role of money transfer firm Philippine Remittance Service Corporation (PhilRem) in the grand money laundering scheme.
Go, the former owner of S&R Membership Shopping, is among those under investigation by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and the Senate blue ribbon committee, after the stolen funds from Bangladesh Bank went through supposed “fake” accounts under his name and his business, Centurytex Trading.
Go had told the local media that the manager of the concerned RCBC branch, Maia Santos-Deguito, allegedly offered him P10 million to participate in the scheme and keep quiet about it.
This was in contrast to Deguito’s testimony before the Senate. She claimed that Go asked for 10% of the $81 million in exchange for his silence.
As the Senate aims to conclude Go’s alleged involvement, the committee will start questioning why RCBC went on with the transactions despite receiving a “stop payment” order request from the Bangladesh Bank.
The Philippines Senate blue ribbon committee plans to “close the chapter” on the involvement of Filipino-Chinese businessman William Go at the third hearing on the $81-million Bangladesh Bank fund heist on March 29.
Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III bared the agenda of the March 29 hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee, which he chairs, on the heist which has turned out to be the biggest recorded money laundering incident in Philippine history.
“We would like to close the chapter of William So Go during the next hearing,” Guingona said in an interview with the Rappler.com, a news website based in the Philippines.
He added that the Senate panel will also focus on the judgment lapse of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in facilitating the release of the stolen funds, and the role of money transfer firm Philippine Remittance Service Corporation (PhilRem) in the grand money laundering scheme.
Go, the former owner of S&R Membership Shopping, is among those under investigation by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and the Senate blue ribbon committee, after the stolen funds from Bangladesh Bank went through supposed “fake” accounts under his name and his business, Centurytex Trading.
Go had told the local media that the manager of the concerned RCBC branch, Maia Santos-Deguito, allegedly offered him P10 million to participate in the scheme and keep quiet about it.
This was in contrast to Deguito’s testimony before the Senate. She claimed that Go asked for 10% of the $81 million in exchange for his silence.
As the Senate aims to conclude Go’s alleged involvement, the committee will start questioning why RCBC went on with the transactions despite receiving a “stop payment” order request from the Bangladesh Bank.
