BB heist: CA affirms conviction of ex-RCBC manager

The Court of Appeals First Division has denied the appeal by former RCBC bank manager Maia Santos Deguito to reverse her conviction for money laundering in connection with the $81-million cyber heist on Bangladesh's central bank in 2016.

The CA said the appeal is dismissed, upholding the joint decision dated January 10, 2019 and the resolution dated September 20, 2019 of the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 149 finding Deguito guilty for 8 counts of Section 4 (f) of R.A. No. 9160, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The CA decision was promulgated February 6, 2023 but was released Wednesday.

"In light of the above conclusions, there is no doubt that the prosecution was able to prove that Deguito is guilty of eight (8) counts of violation of Section 4 (f) of R.A. No. 9160, as amended. Thus, the Court finds no need to further discuss the other issues raised by the parties," the CA added.

Hackers penetrated Bangladesh Bank in February 2016 and sent fraudulent requests for nearly $1 billion from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, mostly intended for accounts in the Manila-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

Many of the transfer orders were blocked or reversed by the US central bank and intermediary banks, but $81 million made it to accounts in fake names at RCBC. Most of the funds then disappeared into Manila's loosely regulated casino industry.

In January 2019, Deguito was found guilty of money laundering in connection with the $81-million cyber heist.

Agencies