SENATE President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto believes that if Philippine authorities will only act swiftly, they may still recover more than 40 percent, or about $34 million, of the $81-million loot that was allegedly stolen by Chinese hackers from Bangladesh Bank.
While the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is still trying to solve the biggest cyberheist in history, Recto noted that our law enforcement agencies must act swiftly to recover any portion of the loot that is still within Philippine soil.
“There is a chance that we can recover $34 million if local authorities will zero in on the paper trail established during the Senate hearings,” said Recto.
The possibility of recovering the loot loomed after the Senate discovered that not all the $81 million stolen from Bangladesh were laundered successfully through Philippine casinos.
Under intense grilling from Recto, casino junket operator Kam Sin Wong alias Kim Wong admitted on Tuesday that only about $61 million of the $81-million cyberheist loot found its way to Philippine casinos.
About $17 million, Wong said, are still with Philrem Corp., the remittance firm responsible for transferring the stolen money from Rizal Banking Commercial Corp. to different accounts and individuals.
Wong told Recto and other senators that he is ready to surrender to Philippine authorities the entire P450 million or about $10 million that his firm, Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. Ltd., received as part of the cyberheist loot.
Wong admitted that a total of P1 billion went to his firm, but P550 million of the amount was given to casino players who already lost the money in baccarat games.
Wong also announced during the last Senate hearing that he is willing to return even the total amount of P1 billion if Philippine authorities will request him to do so.
Aside from the $17 million allegedly with Philrem and the $10 million with Wong, Recto noted that almost $7 million of the stolen money had been traced and may be recovered from casino accounts.
“What is important is to get all the money that can still be returned to Bangladesh because we know that the stolen money came from a poor country,” said Recto.
Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III said a portion of the $81-million stolen from the Bangladesh Bank “long considered gone and spirited away” was effectively recovered after the conclusion of the third public hearing on money laundering.
“At least there is a positive development. We can give back $4.63 million. [Wong] is willing to make arrangements to his lawyers to turn over the cash to the Anti-Money Laundering Council,” he said.
Another P107 million may also be recovered for the Bangladesh government after Solaire made a quick move to freeze the account of a certain Ding Zhize. The said amount is part of the P1.365 billion credited to Ding’s account in Solaire.
“Once Wong has handed in the $4.63 million cash, it’s up to the Central Bank and the Anti-Money Laundering Council to turn over the cash to the Bangladeshi authorities… We are able to return a certain amount which, presumably, would not have been unearthed had we not had these hearings,” Guingona added.