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 Unidentified hackers infiltrated the computers at Bangladesh Bank in
early February and tried to transfer a total of $951 million from
its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
All but one of the 35 attempted transfers were to the Rizal
Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC), confirming the Philippines'
centrality to the heist.
Most transfers were blocked, but a total of $81 million went to four
accounts at a single RCBC branch in Manila. The stolen money was
swiftly transferred to a foreign exchange broker and distributed to
casinos and gambling agents in Manila.
"The hacking was done, chances are, by Chinese hackers," Senator
Ralph Recto told Reuters in a telephone interview. "Then they saw
that, in the Philippines, RCBC particularly was vulnerable and sent
the money over here."
Beijing was quick to denounce the comments by Recto, vice chairman
of the Senate Committee on Finance and a former head of the
Philippines' economic planning agency.
The suggestion that Chinese hackers were possibly involved was
"complete nonsense" and "really irresponsible," Chinese foreign
ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters.
Recto said he couldn't prove the hackers were Chinese, but was
merely "connecting the dots" after a series of Senate hearings into
the scandal.
At one hearing, a Chinese casino boss and junket operator called Kim
Wong named two high-rolling gamblers from Beijing and Macau who he
said had brought the stolen money into the Philippines. He displayed
purported copies of their passports, showing they were mainland
Chinese and Macau administrative region nationals respectively.
"BEST LEAD"
Wong, a native of Hong Kong who holds a Chinese passport, received
almost $35 million of the stolen funds through his company and a
foreign exchange broker.
The two Chinese named by Wong "are the best lead to determine who
are the hackers," said Recto. "Chances are... they must be Chinese."
The whereabouts of the two high-rollers were unknown, Recto added,
saying the Senate inquiry "may" seek help from the Chinese
government to find them.
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Recto also questioned the role of casino junket operators in the
Philippines, saying many of them have links in Macau, the southern
Chinese territory that is the world's biggest casino hub. "There are
junket operators who are from Macau, so it (the money) may find its
way back to Macau," he said.
A senior executive at a top junket operator in Macau told Reuters
there was "no reason" to bring funds from the Philippines to Macau.
"This seems more like a political story in the Philippines," he
said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to talk to
the media.
The U.S. State Department said in a report last month that the
gaming industry was "a weak link" in the Philippines' anti-money
laundering regime.
Philrem, the foreign exchange agent, said it distributed the stolen
$81 million to Bloomberry Resorts Corp, which owns and operates the
upmarket Solaire casino in Manila; to Eastern Hawaii Leisure
Company, which is owned by Wong; and to an ethnic Chinese man
believed to be a junket operator in Manila.
Wong has returned $5.5 million to the Philippines' anti-money
laundering agency and has promised to hand over another $9.7
million. A portion of the money he received, he said, has already
been spent on gambling chips for clients.
Solaire has told the Senate hearing that the $29 million that ended
up with them was credited to an account of the Macau-based
high-roller but it has managed to seize and confiscate $2.33 million
in chips and cash.
(Writing by Andrew R.C. Marshall; Additional reporting by Farah
Master in Hong Kong; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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