The Department of Justice on Tuesday said the process for the return of the laundered funds from the $81-million stolen by hackers from Bangladesh central bank is underway.
Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas made the disclosure after a meeting with Bangladeshi Ambassador to the Philippines John Gomes, who visited the DoJ to personally request the immediate return of the money to Bangladesh.
“We did assure them that it’s being done. We have a process for that [return of recovered money], but we have to make sure it goes through the legal process as quickly as possible,” Caparas told reporters.
Caparas stressed that the amounts surrendered by personalities to whom the laundered money went could not be automatically sent to Bangladesh.
“The money surrendered is now with our authorities. But before that could be turned over to Bangladesh, it has to go through a process,” the Justice secretary said.
Earlier, former University of the East law Dean Amado Valdez suggested that the government should initiate forfeiture proceedings.
“This is a short process especially if there is no other parties who would contest ownership of the money. If there is no other claimant it can be in the form of a summary proceeding,” he explained.
Valdez added that such process “would help prevent a problematic precedent in the future in any case, we have jurisdiction over that controversy.”
Under the United Nations Conventions against Transnational Organized Crime, the DoJ will represent the Bangladesh government in local forfeiture cases.
Casino junket operator Kim Wong earlier surrendered to the Anti-Money Laundering Council the $9.8-million cash he received from the laundered amount.
The government has also confiscated P107 million from a casino and another P903 million from Macau-based casino operator Sun City.
Only $17-million of the entire $81-million laundered amount remains unaccounted for.
Wong said this amount is still with remittance firm Philrem Service, which denied the allegation during Senate inquiry.
The AMLC earlier filed money-laundering charges in the DoJ against Wong, fellow businessman Weikang Xu and former Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito.