MANILA – RCBC Jupiter branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito on Thursday said she met Kim Wong, one of those linked to the $81- million money laundering heist, through car trader Jason Go in 2009.

Deguito said Go is an old client of hers in the banks she previously worked at who helps her get new clients.

“I met [Kim Wong] through Jason Go. Jason Go has been helping me in acquiring new clients wherever bank I am assigned,” Deguito told the Senate committee.

READ: Who is Kim Wong?

She said Wong became her client when she was working for East West Bank. She said Wong asked her to open an account.

"[I don't know Wong] very well, but yes, I know him," said Deguito, when asked by Senator Juan Ponce Enrile how well she knows the Chinese businessman.

Go, meanwhile, is considered a valued client of RCBC, and was also the one who reportedly wanted Deguito assigned in RCBC Jupiter, according to Sen. TG Guingona.

READ: Who is Jason Go? Trader wanted Deguito in RCBC Jupiter

Deguito earlier said Wong and RCBC president and chief executive Lorenzo Tan are friends, but Tan denied this, saying the only time he saw Wong was at a restaurant opening in 2002.

Tan also denied being part of a "Thursday Club" that also included Go and Wong.

“I’m CEO of a universal bank and I am also president of BAP [Bankers Association of the Philippines] so I had a lot of dinner appointments, lunches. Probably I saw Jason two to six times a month, only when I’m free for lunch. I don’t invite them to my house for dinner. They don’t invite me to their house, I’m not part of that Thursday Club,” Tan told the senators.

Tan also reiterated that he was not the one who "invited" Deguito to work for RCBC, saying, "In my 18 years in banking, I never interviewed a branch manager."

Wong is currently out of the country for medical treatment, but his lawyer said Wong is willing to attend the Senate hearing on March 29, if his condition permits.