Ex-RCBC manager’s conviction over $81 million cyber heist affirmed

MANILA, Philippines — Former Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) bank manager Maia Deguito has lost her appeal to overturn her conviction by a Makati City court for facilitating the laundering of $81 million (P4.5 billion) stolen by hackers from the Bangladesh Bank in 2016.

The Court of Appeals (CA) upheld the original verdict of the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 149 in 2019, stating that all three elements of money laundering were present in Deguito’s case: first, that she knew the money was from unlawful activity; second, that she performed acts leading to the facilitation of money laundering; and third, that she transacted the monetary instruments.

“In light of the above conclusions, there is no doubt that the prosecution was able to prove that Deguito is guilty of eight counts of violation of Section 4 (f) of RA No. 9160, as amended,” the CA First Division stated in its 58-page ruling.

The CA reviewed how the lower court had convicted Deguito in 2019 for facilitating the transfer of the $81 million that suspiciously went through the country’s financial system and into accounts at her branch. She was sentenced to 56 years in prison for the crime of money laundering.

In its ruling, the CA emphasized that Deguito could not downplay her role, as the unauthorized payment was made just nine months after she assisted in opening accounts at her branch.

“Thus, the Court finds no need to discuss further the other issues raised by the parties,” continued the CA ruling as penned by Associate Justice Raymond Reynold Lauigan and concurred in by Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Associate Justice Pablito Perez.

The CA noted that one of Deguito’s major responsibilities was screening transactions according to Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) guidelines.

With her 16 years of experience in banking, she could not feign ignorance of the basic provisions of the AMLA and the RCBC’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Program, the CA said.

The CA also noted that Deguito facilitated the opening of the accounts used for the Bangladesh Bank heist by allowing them to be opened based on fictitious identification documents.

She did not personally witness the alleged clients filling out forms and signing customer relationship forms and signature cards, violating the face-to-face policy of AMLA regulations, the CA said.

The appeals court also did not give weight to Deguito’s allegation that the Makati judge was biased against her for asking her more questions than the prosecution.

About $101 million (P5.6 billion) was lost in the cyber heist, with the lion’s share of the stolen money being traced to the Philippines and the rest to Sri Lanka.