Bank heist probe deepens

A bank official revealed on Thursday at a Senate hearing that she was directed by a certain "Kim Wong" to four bank accounts where the $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank was deposited, said Victoria Tulad in a report for GMA 7's "Saksi" on Thursday.

Maia Santos-Deguito, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Jupiter branch manager, said that Kim Wong is a friend of RCBC President Lorenzo Tan.

Deguito said she has known Wong since 2009 when she was still with Export Bank. Wong has remained one of her clients when she transferred to East West Bank.

She added that it was in 2014 that the RCBC president  told her to "take care" of Wong as a client.

Tan denied this, adding that Wong is not a close friend. He also denied recruiting Deguito.

In a separate report filed by Sandra Aguinaldo for GMA News TV's "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho," Deguito answered additional questions from senators after the executive session.

In the report, Deguito said it was Wong who referred to her four fictitious accounts.

Wong, it was learned, is one of the incoporators of East Hawaii Leisure which is operating a casino and hotel located in Cagayan Exclusive Economic Zone.

Deguito also revealed that she was introduced to Wong in 2009 by car dealer Jason Go, who is also her client.

GMA News is trying to contact Wong as of posting time. His lawyer however said on Thursday at the Senate hearing that his client is in Singapore for medical treatment and will be back in the country on March 24.

Philrem Service Corp., a money remittance agent, was also reprimanded by senators for not double checking the source and recipient of the cash that they delivered.

Philrem President Salud Bautista replied that they received a call from the bank manager and assumed that the bank already checked the source and recipient of the fund.

Philrem also apologized to the Bangladeshi government and pledged to return the P10-million earnings they received from the transaction.

In a statement sent to GMA News Online, Philrem Service Corporation said they accepted the transaction "with the understanding from the receiving bank that this was a clean and legitimate transaction."

"It now seems evident to us that this was not true, and we are deeply regretful for our unknowing participation in this shameful chapter in Philippine history," the company stated.

Philrem clarified that there are certain transactions that we undertake for which we have a flat fee—this is usually given to OFWs to ease remittance.

"However, when we deal with other financial transactions, we apply a handling fee and this is variable depending on the type of transaction at hand," the firm said.

For handling the cash, which is reported to be part of the $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh, the company charged a handling fee of one-fourth or 1 percent of the amount transfered.

The company's fee was equivalent to the amount of P10,474,654 in earnings.

The company has pledged to return its earnings to the Bangladeshi government.

"Philrem has no interest in profiting from any questionable sources," they said, adding that a check equivalent to P10,747,654 will be prepared and are merely waiting for the Bangladeshi government to give them the name of the payee.

"We are ready to return it to the Bangladeshi delegation not only as an apology, but as a symbol of a Filipino company willing to help them find justice," Philrem said.

Despite this development, Sen. Koko Pimentel said charges can still be filed against Philrem if it is found that they violated any laws.

Meanwhile, Senator Guingona said that in his opinion, the chain of responsibility may not end with the bank manager.

He added that there may be a syndicate behind the multi-million dollar heist. — wih a report by Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas, BAP, GMA News