Senate probe on $81-M bank heist to resume on May 12
MANILA, Philippines – Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chair Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III on Monday said the inquiry into the $81 million money laundering case is suspended and will resume on May 12.
Guingona said the panel will seek to reconcile the conflicting statements of the parties involved and will focus on the details of the missing $17 million which is still unaccounted.
During the past six hearings, the Blue Ribbon Committee was able to trace how most of the $81 million stolen from the central bank of Bangladesh entered the country on February 5 and how large amounts were spent on casinos.
However, the senate is still identifying who received the $17 million delivered by remitting company, Philrem Service Corp. (Philrem) in cash.
Sen. Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III, however, claimed he “discovered that the missing funds are with Philrem.” He said he has many sources of information which he will later on disclose.
READ: Osmeña: Missing $17 M with Philrem
The parties involved — casino junket operator and businessman Kim Wong, dismissed RCBC-Jupiter Branch manager Maia Deguito, and Philrem officials Salud and Michael Bautista — gave contradicting testimonies on the $17 million cash that Philrem claimed to have delivered to a Chinese businessman Weikang Xu at Solaire casino.
"The Senate inquiry is far from over as additional hearings are still needed to help the committee finish its recommendations for improvements to existing banking and anti-money laundering laws," Guingona was quoted in a report.
"(The) committee still needs to ferret out the whole truth and to get a clearer and more accurate picture of how $81 million in stolen funds were brought into the country and laundered here, and where all the money went after," he added.
Guingona also mentioned that the parties involved failed to submit the waivers allowing Globe Telecom to uncover their phone records between February 9 and 13, despite giving their verbal consent when asked if the committee can look into their phone records.
Aside from the phone records, the Senate committee is also expecting the attendance of the resigned and still unnamed accountant of Philrem.
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