Senator Osmeña says syndicate behind $81-M transactions

Says 30% is the 'standard commission' for money laundering

'Casinos are the easiest place to launder money'

MANILA - Of the $81 million stolen from the central bank of Bangladesh and allegedly slipped through the Philippines via different bank accounts, a total of $30 million in cash went to a casino junket operator.

One of the resource persons at Tuesday's Senate hearing into the money laundering scheme was Atty. Salud Bautista, president of the Philippine Remittances (Philrem) Service Corp., through which the $81 million passed through after it was converted into pesos.

Bautista told senators that on February 9, $15 million was remitted to Philrem from the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) account of a certain Enrico Teodoro Vasquez.

Vasquez is one of four individuals identified as owners of the dollar accounts where the alleged stolen funds from the Bangladesh Bank were transferred. The funds from the four accounts, minus the $15 million remitted to Philrem, were consolidated into the account of businessman William So Go.

READ: Senate fails to locate 4 suspects in laundering heist

Upon questioning by Senator Sergio Osmeña III, Bautista confirmed that millions of dollars were similarly remitted to Philrem from the account of Go. Go has denied owning the RCBC account.

The remittances were made in tranches from February 5 to 10, in the amounts of $500,000 and $14.2 million on February 5; $15.2 million on February 9; and $17.9 million on February 10.

Philrem then remitted the money -- already in pesos -- to Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. ($21 million) and Bloomberry, operator of Solaire ($29 million).

The remittances were also made in tranches from February 5 to 10:

-- to Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co., P500 million and P500 million on February 10;

-- to Bloomberry, P130 million, P200 million, P100 million and P135 million on February 5; P8 million on February 9; and P200 million, P210 million, P100 million, P100 million and P190 million on February 10.

"Yes, we remitted the funds," Bautista confirmed. "We are a remittance company, so we remitted the funds."

WATCH: William Go says no hand in money laundering case

'SUSPICIOUS' TRANSACTION REPORT

When asked further about the transactions, however, Bautista refused to disclose details, invoking Section 9c of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA).

She explained that they have already filed a suspicious transaction report before the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), which is currently investigating the cross-border transfer of the stolen money, and therefore they could not disclose further details.

"We have been referred to Section 9c of the AMLA which reads: 'When reporting covered or suspicious transactions to the AMLC, covered persons and their officers and employees are prohibited from communicating, directly or indirectly, in any manner or by any means, to any person or entity, the media, the fact that a covered or suspicious transaction has been reported, the contents of the report or any other information in relation thereto. Neither may such be reporting be published or aired in any matter or form by the mass media, electronic mail or other similar devices. In case of violation thereof, the concerned officer and employee of the covered person and media shall be held criminally liable,'" Bautista said.

Asked why they accepted the money if they found it "suspicious," the Philrem president pointed out that the transactions came from RCBC, which she has been dealing with for the last 18 years.

"It's like a regular remittance for us because we are a remittance company. We get instructions from the sender where to bring the funds for its beneficiaries," she said. "It's a regular course of business for us."

WHO IS XU?

If $29 million and another $21 million of the total $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh Bank were remitted to Bloomberry and Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co., respectively, where did the remaining roughly $30 million go? To a junket operator identified as Weikang Xu, Bautista confirmed.

Bautista, however, again refused to disclose further details, reiterating Section 9c of the AMLA.

"I have to respect and honor the Section 9c of the AMLA," she told Osmeña. "It is part of the report that we made to the AMLC."

Her answer did not sit well with the senator who told her she is not cooperating and quipped: "You are saying that if you file a suspicious transaction report, that protects you from giving information. Gee, I would file a suspicious transaction report on every deposit I make so that I won't have to answer anybody's question."

READ: How a hacker's typo helped stop a billion dollar bank heist

Upon prodding, Bautista eventually confirmed before the Senate that they indeed delivered a total of $30 million in cash -- in the amounts of P600 million and $18 million -- to Xu from February 5 to 13.

The amounts of P600 million and $18 million were both delivered in tranches. "It is not in a period of one time," she said. She also admitted personally delivering the cash to Xu in the beginning.

According to Bautista, the instruction to deliver the cash to Xu came from Maia Santos Deguito, the manager of the RCBC branch in Jupiter, Makati. Deguito has been accused of setting up the fictitious bank accounts through which the stolen money supposedly slipped through.

Deguito, who was also present in the hearing, refused to confirm Bautista's statement but said that she does not know Xu. "I will answer everything in the executive session when granted," she said.

"You instructed somebody to deliver P600 million in cash to somebody you don't know. Can you deliver it to me next time?" Osmeña then quipped.

READ: RCBC branch head invokes right vs self-incrimination

Atty. Silverio Benny Tan, corporate secretary of Bloomberry, confirmed that Xu is a "registered" junket agent in the gaming business. A junket operator draws commissions for bringing into the casino high-rolling gamblers.

"We are not privy to the cash transactions," Tan said. "We do not know that," he answered, when asked if he thinks Xu is part of a syndicate.

'BLACK HOLE'

In an interview on radio dzMM Tuesday evening, Osmeña said casinos are the easiest place to launder money, especially as they are not covered by AMLA.

"Alam nating lahat na pinakamalaking butas yung casino. Napakadali pumasok sa casino. Tingnan mo, napakadali magpadala ng pera dun tapos it will get lost like a black hole," he said.

He said the "standard commission" for money laundering is 30 percent. "Napakalaki. So if you're talking $80 million, that's $24 million in commission. Sindikato yan."

The senator believes a large syndicate is behind the $81-million money laundering scheme which involves the RCBC Jupiter branch manager and Philrem.

"Nakikita naman natin na meron talagang may kasalanan. The front-liner here is the bank, the branch manager, siya talaga ang nasa hot seat. Yung number 2 yung Philrem, yung remittance company... Their cooperation was needed," said Osmeña.

"Grupo yan. Hanggang sa casino, may kasabwat sa casino. Di lang namin alam kung sino."

P50-FEE PER TRANSACTION?

The Senate, meanwhile, also quizzed Bautista on Philrem's profit from the transactions it made.

According to Bautista, they charge a flat rate of P50 per transaction -- a claim the senators seemingly found incredulous.

"You've delivered P600 million and $18 million in cash and you're saying P50 lang yung kita mo dun, ang chinarge mo?" Senator Teofisto Guingona III asked Bautista, who answered: "Yes, yes, but it was not a one-time transaction. It was several times."

"So number of times x P50? So kunyari, yung P600 million na dineliver mo...sabihin mo nang 10 times. 10 deliveries x P50 is P500," Guingona said.

"Yes, your honor," answered Bautista.