Philippines anti-money laundering authorities have started a case with a local court to pave the way for returning stolen Bangladesh Bank funds .
Published : 21 Apr 2016, 01:14 PM
The country's Senate chief said they hope to start the handover process by June 30.
Its Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) on Apr 18 filed a civil forfeiture petition in court against businessman Kam Sin Wong alias Kim Wong, his company East Hawaii Leisure, Centurytext Trading owned by Chinese businessman William Go, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and Philippine National Bank (PNB), reports Philippines' newspaper Inquirer.
The chief of the country’s Senate, which is holding a hearing over the stolen $81 million, said that they hope to start the process of handing over the recovered money to Bangladesh by June 30.
“That would be our national deadline. Before President Aquino returns to private life, we must see to it that all the recoverable money from that heist has been returned to its rightful owner,” the Inquirer report quoted a statement by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto.
President Aquino is stepping down on June 30.
The Inquirer report says that Bangladesh government will have to formally claim ownership of the money. “Otherwise, the funds would be declared property of the Republic of the Philippines.”
Meanwhile, following the AMLC’s legal proceedings, a Philippines court has slapped a 20-day freeze on bank accounts related with the cyber heist.
Kim Wong’s PNB account with a balance of 4.46 million pesos, Eastern Hawaii Leisure’s 5.74 million pesos with PNB and 19.98 million pesos with RCBC of William Go owned Centurytext Trading have been frozen.
“The order also covered the first two tranches of money now in the custody of the AMLC. On Mar 31, Kim Wong’s lawyers returned an initial $4.63 million, and on Apr 4, 38.28 million pesos,” reads the Inquirer report.
On Monday, his company, Eastern Hawaii Leisure, turned over another 200 million pesos to the AMLC.
He is expected to turn over another 250 million pesos, says the report.
Kim Wong has admitted to receive a portion of the $81 million that came into the Philippines through RCBC and was transferred to the accounts of junket operators after which it found its way to casinos.
The Inquirer report says Kim Wong named two others— Gao Shuhua and Ding Zhize— who he claimed facilitated the entry of the stolen $81 million into Philippines.
Solaire Resort and Casino Manila, which got part of the $81 million, also froze the account of the “Ding Group” worth 107 million pesos, and confiscated another 1.347 million from the rooms of the group’s players, say the report adding that Solaire is waiting for a court order to dispose of the money.