Deguito appears at DOJ for $81-M money laundering probe

Dismissed Rizal Commercial Banking Corp bank manager Maia Deguito on Tuesday showed up at the first preliminary investigation by the Department of Justice on the $81-million bank heist involving Bangladesh funds.

Deguito arrived at the DOJ main office in Manila at around 10:30 a.m. with her lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, and went straight to the office of Assistant State Prosecutor Gilmarie Fe Pacamarra for the closed-door preliminary probe.

Pacamarra allowed Deguito to submit her counter-affidavit on May 3.

In an interview with reporters, Topacio said they will ask the prosecutor for more time to answer the laundering charges filed against his client by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

"Kumplikado iyong ano [kaso]... We will respond sa tamang panahon," he said.

"Ang pinagtataka namin nagiging piecemeal. Bakit siya lang? Hindi pa i-consolidate. Asan ang ibang officials ng RCBC?" Topacio added.

Four bank accounts under fictitious names were opened on May 15, 2015 at the RCBC Jupiter branch in Makati City by Deguito supposedly upon the referral of businessman Kim Wong.

Wong has since denied the allegation.

Deguito allegedly facilitated the money transfers involving the Bangladesh funds to the four accounts last February.

Deguito was fired by RCBC and charged with falsifying documents before the Department of Justice and the Makati Prosecutor's Office in the wake of the scandal.

RCBC president Lorenzo Tan on Monday filed civil and criminal charges against Deguito for her "scurrilous remarks" implicating him as the mastermind in the money laundering scam.

In a statement, Topacio said the filing of the cases is a "typical strategy of people who have painted themselves into a corner and who wish to confuse the public."

The RCBC has fired Deguito and charged her of falsifying documents.

"Bring it on so the people may know who is telling the truth. Anyway RCBC and its officials are veterans and experts in the blame game and in squid tactics," Topacio said in the statement. —with Kiersnerr Gerwin Tacadena/ALG, GMA News