IMF backs reforms in PH after Bangladesh Bank heist

The International Monetary Fund said the unauthorized transfer of US$81 million from Bangladesh Bank to entities in the Philippines highlighted the need to tighten the Southeast Asian country's anti-money laundering laws.

Chikahisa Sumi, head of the IMF mission to the Philippines, said there was also a need to ease the bank secrecy law in the country to be on par with international standards.

Hackers tried to steal $1 billion from the account of the central bank of Bangladesh at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last February. Of the 35 transactions, 30 transactions were foiled.

However, a total of five transactions worth $81 million were consummated through fictitious accounts at the Jupiter branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation or RCBC in Makati City allegedly facilitated by branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito and customer relations manager Angela Torres. Both employees were dismissed by RCBC while Deguito, who dragged resigned president Lorenzo Tan into the scandal, is now facing several criminal cases filed by RCBC and the Anti-Money Laundering Council ( AMLC) for violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The AMLC has filed several cases against several personalities and Philrem Services of the Bautista family before the Department of Justice. Both the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, and the Senate completed their respective investigations on the money laundering scandal.