A Dhaka court has issued an order for the confiscation of $81 million that was stolen from Bangladesh Bank’s reserves in 2016 and laundered through the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in the Philippines.
The order was issued under Section 17(2)(7) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2012 (amended 2015), following a petition by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), based on evidence and witness statements obtained through a Mutual Legal Assistance Request (MLAR) from the Philippine government.
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CID chief and Additional IGP Mohammad Shibghat Ullah disclosed the development at a press briefing at the CID headquarters in Malibagh on Sunday afternoon.
He said the investigation proved that former RCBC president and CEO Lorenzo Tan, Jupiter branch manager Maia Santos Deguito, and several other officials of the bank’s head office and Jupiter branch were directly involved in laundering the stolen money through five fake accounts.
Philippine courts have already convicted the officials involved, while the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas imposed a large fine on RCBC.
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On February 16, 2016, the bank returned only $68,000 to Bangladesh Bank as an initial step.
The CID chief noted that the case was not limited to individual misconduct, but RCBC as a corporate entity was fully complicit in the money laundering offense under Section 27 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2012.
The court directed that the entire $81 million forfeited from RCBC be returned to the Bangladesh government’s treasury.
The copies of the order have been sent to the relevant authorities in Bangladesh and the Philippines for execution.
He said the government will now formally pursue the return of the money from the Philippines in line with the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), Philippine laws, and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines.
“We expect to bring back the $81 million to Bangladesh Bank’s reserves through proper channels at the earliest,” the CID chief said, adding that the investigation against both local and foreign suspects remains ongoing and a chargesheet will soon be submitted.
He also recalled that $68,000 had earlier been returned from the Philippines and that Sri Lankan authorities had returned funds once they realized the money was linked to money laundering.
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In response to a question on possible political involvement, the CID chief said, “We are at the final stage of investigation. Anyone, local or foreign, found involved will be brought under the law. No one will be spared.”
Special prosecutor adviser to the Home Ministry, Advocate Ehsanul Haque Samaji, said the court order has been sent to the Philippines for administrative execution. “This is a fully administrative process, and once completed, the money will be returned to Bangladesh,” he added.