Two Chinese businessmen brought $81 million stolen from Bangladesh Bank into Philippines, Kam Sin Wong, a suspect has said.
Published : 29 Mar 2016, 05:34 PM
Also known as Kim Wong, he put the blame on Shuhua Gao and Ding Zhize during his first deposition before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in Manila on Tuesday.
He also admitted to receiving 1 billion pesos at his Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co Ltd, but said he had done so without knowing that it was connected to the heist, reports local media.
Gao had repaid a loan worth 450 million pesos, which Wong said he was willing to return. The remaining 550 million pesos had been converted into chips and played in his casino, of which 510 million pesos were lost.
The casino operator first refused to openly identify the two who had laundered the stolen reserves through Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) but was prodded by a senator.
Gao, he said, has been a junket agent for almost eight years, while Ding was a businessman from Macau who was introduced to him by Gao.
Wong, a Chinese-born Filipino junket operator, was accused as a suspect by Maia Santos-Deguito who facilitated the theft as former branch manager of RCBC-Jupiter in Makati City.
In his opening remarks, Wong blamed her back, saying he had referred Gao to Deguito after she had asked him to open an account in her branch.
Gao then met him and Deguito in his office at Midas Hotel on May, 2015, said Wong.
He also told the committee that Gao borrowed 450 million pesos from him after he lost a lot of money in a casino.
According to the local media reports, she said five persons were needed for opening an account for a company when Gao wanted to open a dollar account.
“Gao said that we would probably find it difficult to open an account. Maia told us that she would take care of it. I was in a hurry, and she offered to assist us,” Wong was quoted as saying.
On Feb 4, Gao told him of his and Ding’s plan to invest in Manila after closing their casino in Macau. Wong added that he met Gao and Ding the next day when the two told him to call Deguito to check if the accounts were ready.
Deguito, he said, called at around 1:00pm the same day to inform them about the portion of funds had arrived into the accounts which totalled $81 million.
The 40 million pesos remaining from the money converted into chips, and the debt payment may possibly be returned to Bangladesh Bank, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Julia Bacay-Abad told senators during the hearing.
Wong said he then asked Deguito if she could bring the money to the hotel.
At around 7:00 p.m. on the same day, Michael Bautista of Philrem Service Corporation arrived with 80 million peso supposedly upon Deguito’s request, the Inquirer reported quoting Wong.
Maia later brought the remaining 20 million peso, according to Wong.
Apart from the 100 million peso that was delivered in cash in the hotel, Wong reportedly claimed he had also collected a total of P300 million peso and $5 million cash from Bautista’s house.
He said he first picked up P100 million and $3 million cash from Bautista’s house on February 9 last. He then collected another P100 million and $2 million cash on February 10, and another P100 million on February 14.
In his opening statement, Wong accused Deguito of forging the documents of the bank’s five account holders to receive and withdraw the stolen funds.
“It was also Maia who pursued all means to release the money from the bank,” Wong reportedly said.
Of the total $81 million stolen funds that were deposited and withdrew from the RCBC branch of Deguito, Wong said about $63 million went to Midas and Solaire casinos.