Bangladesh Bank sues RCBC, Bloomberry anew on 2016 heist

BANGLADESH BANK is seeking damages from the parties. — REUTERS

THE BANGLADESH BANK has filed a new civil suit against Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and Bloomberry Resorts Corp. to claim damages related to the $81-million heist in 2016.

“In the complaint, Bangladesh Bank is seeking compensation for damages relating to the incident in 2016 where $81M was allegedly stolen from the account of Bangladesh Bank through conspiracy perpetrated by all the defendants,” RCBC said in a filing with the local bourse on Friday.

Bloomberry Resorts Corp., the parent unit of Bloomberry Resorts & Hotel, Inc. (BRHI) that operates Solaire Resort & Casino was also involved in the new complaint.

In its own filing on Monday, Bloomberry Resorts said the new case filed against them is for “conversion/theft/misappropriation; aiding and abetting the same; conspiracy to commit the same.” They noted that Bangladesh Bank’s complaint against RCBC is for fraud.

“Summons has not been served here. BRHI will vigorously defend itself against these baseless charges,” Bloomberry said.

The appeal was filed on May 27 after the Federal Court of New York dismissed in March the case filed by the Bangladesh Bank on the incident.

Aside from RCBC, other respondents for the case include Maia Santos Deguito, the former branch manager of RCBC Jupiter Branch where the $81-million theft from the account of Bangladesh Bank was transferred under fictitious names of clients with accounts in the said Makati branch.

It also includes other former RCBC employees and officials such as Ismael S. Reyes, Angela Ruth S. Torres, Raul Victor B. Tan, Nestor Pineda, Brigitte Capina, as well as former RCBC President and CEO and now House of Investments president and CEO Lorenzo V. Tan.

The earlier dismissed case was filed by the central bank of Bangladesh to seek compensation for the $81 million it allegedly lost to North Korean hackers who sent multiple remittance orders out of the central bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. These funds were remitted to alleged fictitious accounts in RCBC and were also said to have been funneled into Philippine casinos through gambling. — LWTN