Awash With Cash

March 18, 2016 at 12:01 am

Alejandro Del Rosario/Manila Standard

Why does Maia Santos Deguitos testimony have to be in

executive session? And why does she want Anti-Money
Laundering Council officials excluded from the closed-door
hearing? It had to take Senator Juan Ponce Enrile to reject
Deguitos request for executive session to give full
disclosure. But in the end he was outvoted by the majority in
the Senate banking committee inquiring into the $81 million
hacked from the Bangladesh bank account in New York.
Who are you to ask for an executive session? You can tell all
at this hearing, and if you have a death threat, tell us,
fumed an exasperated Enrile who threatened to cite Deguito
for contempt. Enriles motion to cite Deguito for contempt
prompted committee chairman Teofisto Guingona III to call
for a recess. Senators Tito Sotto, Alan Cayetano, and
Guingona favored an executive session for Deguitos
testimony and convinced the committee to hold the
executive session.
The RCBC Jupiter branch manager is a major player and her
role in this whole sordid affair has to be unraveled. The guilty
have to be punished. This is a transnational crime that has
sent shock waves to the banking world. It has given the
Philippines a black eyefrom a transshipment point for drug
trafficking to the worlds money laundering capital, how can
it get any worse? This is a country awash with cash but sadly
nothing trickles down to the down-trodden.
This latest caper is an intricate web of conspiracy involving
bank officials and the suspect beneficiaries who opened a
paltry $500 account, left it dormant for a year until the huge
$81 million hacked from the Bank of Bangladesh account
came in. There must also have been collusion at the other
end of the Bangladesh bank in Dhaka. The Bangladesh
banks printer was not working during the four days the bank
could have received instructions to stop payment of the

siphoned $81 million. The RCBC Jupiter branchs CCTV

camera was also not working on Feb. 5 when some P20
million was withdrawn by Deguito. The withdrawal slip
allegedly signed by depositor William Go was placed in a bag
and taken to Deguitos car which immediately took off. This
was according to branch official Romualdo Agarrado who
said he witnessed the whole proceedings.
When off-loaded from a PAL flight about to take off, Maia
Deguito said she and her husband were taking their son to
Disneyworld in Tokyo. Was she fleeing when the whole thing
blew up and made news headlines? The senators should
have asked for the Deguitos plane tickets to determine
whether there was no onward flight from Tokyo. Their
booking and flight itinerary can be easily secured from the
airline. It would lend credence to Deguitos claim if she can
show they only bought and booked a Manila-Tokyo-Manila
round-trip ticket without any onward flight to the US. Her
claim she acted with the full knowledge of bank higher-ups
was disputed by RCBC president Lorenzo Tan who said he
does not know and has never met his branch manager.
She [Deguito] is five layers below me, said Tan as he
dismissed her claim like saying he does not get involved with
the household help. We thought all along that hands-on bank
presidents meet with branch managers at least once a year
to see how business is doing. Raul Tan, RCBC treasurer,
however, testified Jason Go, a valued bank client and close
friend of Lorenzo Tan, had a hand in the assignment of Maia
Deguito to RCBC Jupiter branch which was approved by the
board.
Philrem head Salud Bautista, on the other hand, smiled,
made faces and stalled for time when answering questions.
She claimed Philrem earned a pittance in the handling of the
$81-million remittance converted to pesos which purportedly
ended at the casinos. Because they boost tourism and earn
foreign currency revenue, casinos are exempted from the
purview of the AMLCs prying eyes. The Senate inquiry

supposed to be in aid of legislation is considering including

casinos financial operations under the scope of the antimoney laundering law to plug this loophole.
Questions are also being raised as to the effectiveness of the
Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp. and its role in
regulating casino operations.
The senators also did not ask the lawyer representing
suspect Kam Sin Wong a.k.a Kim Wong for a doctors
certificate to prove his client was unable to attend the
hearing because he was in Singapore for medical treatment.
How convenient. The senators left it that without asking
when Wong would be able to attend the next hearing.