RCBC And Bangladeshi Minister Fight Over Blame In Massive Heist

RCBC, the Philippine lender, and a Bangladesh minister are fighting over who is to blame for tens of millions of dollars that were stolen from a New York bank and then disappeared in Manila, with RCBC balking at compensating Bangladesh Bank.

In a report by Reuters, the lawyer for RCBC said RCBC has no reason to compensate Bangladesh Bank since it was “negligent” in the initial security hack. Meanwhile, Bangladesh Law Minister Anisul Hug said that was not relevant and that RCBC should be on the hook for the blame because it accepted cash that was stolen. “It is not for RCBC to point fingers. They should explain their conduct, and the conduct has been very much culpable,” he told a news conference in Manila, according to Reuters.

Back in February, cyberthieves attempted to steal close to $1 billion from Bangladesh Bank and were able to steal $81 million from an account at the New York Federal Reserve. The money was transferred to four fake accounts at an RCBC branch in Manila before disappearing. A lot of the money that ended up in the Philippines was laundered with $15 million recovered from a gaming junket operator, noted Reuters. Hug was in Manilla to speed up the recovery of the money, and his delegation has talked with the Philippines finance minister, as well as gaming regulators, the justice department and the Senate speaker, reported Reuters. Hug said all of those he met with assured him they are cooperating fully in getting the money back. Hug noted Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said he would kickstart the process to resume a legislative hearing into the hack. The delegation is slated to meet the Philippine central bank governor on Thursday (Dec. 1), as well as the anti-money laundering body. That body filed charges against five staff members at RCBC due to the heist.