$81 Million Seized from Philippines’ RCBC in Bangladesh Bank Reserve Heist Case
An amount of $81 million has been officially seized from the Philippines-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in connection with the Bangladesh Bank reserve heist case, confirmed Jasim Uddin Khan, Special Police Superintendent (Media) of the CID, on Sunday (September 21).
He stated that the CID, through a court order, has seized the funds as part of the ongoing investigation into the 2016 cyber heist.
To recap, in February 2016, nearly $101 million was stolen from Bangladesh Bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York via fraudulent SWIFT messages. Around $20 million, which was sent to Sri Lanka, was recovered due to suspicious transaction alerts. However, the remaining $81 million was deposited into several fake accounts at RCBC’s Jupiter branch in Makati City, Philippines.
The stolen money was later funneled through casinos and laundered, making the incident one of the largest cyber heists in history.
Bangladesh Bank filed a case, leading to investigations in multiple countries. In the Philippines, RCBC branch manager Maia Deguito was found guilty of money laundering by a local court.
