Solaire operator scores legal victory in Bangladesh Bank heist case

MANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 3:07 p.m.) — Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc. (BRHI), operator of Solaire Resort & Casino, scored a legal victory after a US court dismissed a case that alleges its involvement in the 2016 Bangladesh cyber heist.

In a decision dated April 8, the Supreme Court of the State of New York junked a case filed by the Bangladesh Bank against BRHI.

The court cited “lack of jurisdiction” in granting BRHI’s motion to dismiss the complaint, which stemmed from the February 2016 heist where unknown hackers stole $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank's account with the US Federal Reserve in New York.

The update was shared to the local bourse on Monday by BRHI’s parent firm Bloomberry Resorts Corp., the listed holding company of Enrique Razon Jr., the second richest man in the country, for his hotel and casino businesses.

 “… (T)he complaint is dismissed in its entirety as against the defendant, with costs and disbursements to defendant,” the dispositive portion of the court decision read in part. “… (T)he Clerk is directed to enter judgment accordingly in favor of defendant."

To recall, the stolen money was transferred to a Manila branch of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., then quickly withdrawn and laundered through local casinos including Solaire.

In its complaint, the Bangladesh central bank accused BRHI, RCBC and over a dozen more of “conversion/ theft/ misappropriation; aiding and abetting the same; conspiracy to commit the same,” among other crimes.

It is still unclear if the US court also cleared RCBC and other defendants from the said allegations. Sought for comment, a representative from Bloomberry said the Bangladesh Bank has 30 days to appeal the decision.

This is a new legal victory for Bloomberry amid a slew of cases filed by Dhaka to recover the stolen funds.

In March 2020, the Federal Court of New York junked a case filed by Bangladesh Bank against Bloomberry and RCBC for failure to state a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) claim or RICO conspiracy claim. Bangladesh reportedly filed an appeal in that same year.

So far, Bangladesh was only able to recover $18 million out of $81 million stolen funds.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas slapped RCBC with a record P1-billion fine following investigations into the Yuchengco-led lender’s role in the crime. In 2019, RCBC sued the Bank of Bangladesh for “defamation”.

As of 1:50 p.m. Monday, shares in Bloombery gained 1.45% to close at P6.31 each.

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Editor's note: Added Bloomberry's comment in the eighth paragraph and updated the company's closing share price.