Businessman bribed twice to close account tagged in money-laundering transaction?

MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BLAME GAME. A businessman tagged in an $81 million money-laundering transaction, on Friday, accused a bank manager of being at the center of the cross-border money transfer, setting up bogus bank accounts, and bribing him to cover her tracks.

William Go, through his lawyer Ramon Esguerra, denied any involvement in an account with Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) believed to be among the five accounts used by an international syndicate to move stolen money from the Bangladesh Bank.

In a press conference, Esguerra said Go "never opened an account with RCBC - Jupiter Branch here in Makati City. That account was opened without his knowledge, without his participation."

Esguerra said the signature of his client was forged to open the US dollar bank account that allegedly consolidated the other accounts for eventual conversion into pesos.

Go only supposedly learned of the questioned account when the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) included him in its investigation.

At around the same time, Esguerra said RCBC Jupiter branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito approached Go asking him to close the account.

Esguerra supposed Deguito could not have closed the account by herself because the RCBC had started its separate probe into the scam by then.

Deguito allegedly met with Go on February 23 and offered him P10 million in exchange for closing the account.

"Of course, Mr. Go did not accede, he refused to heed the request, and called the proposition an idiocy of some sort. Mr. Go cannot validate an irregular account that was opened without his knowledge, without his consent," Esguerra said.

Esguerra said another lawyer, whom he refused to identify, approached Go after a few days with the same request, this time with an offer of P20 million that the businessman also turned down.

Go did not attend the press conference due to security concerns, his legal counsel said.

AT THE CENTER OF THE WEB

Esguerra also reasoned that the controversy revolves around Deguito because the questioned accounts were opened in her branch.

"She is the focus now of the investigation because she is the only one that can best explain what happened -- the opening, the transactions, et cetera," the lawyer said.

"The burden in proving that Mr.Go indeed opened the accounts is on Mrs. Dequito because she is the manager of the bank, she is in possession of the documents in question and the signatures which we claim and we will prove in due time, to have been forged. The presumption is she made use of it and she is the author."

Deguito, Esguerra said, is a former employee of East West bank where Go also has accounts.

Esguerra also denied that Go sent a text message to Deguito instructing her to withdraw the money remaining in his alleged account, and reprimanding her for the bank's failure to follow his orders.

COUNTER ACTIONS

The Go camp wrote RCBC on March 2, demanding an explanation on how Go was linked to the account used in transferring the money stolen by hackers.

They have also requested assistance from the National Bureau of Investigation in probing the case.

Go and his lawyers on Friday also filed a motion before the Court of Appeals seeking to lift a freeze order issued against the legitimate bank accounts used by the trader in his customs brokerage business.

Go's camp is set to charge Deguito with falsification of documents.

They are also mulling possible raps against the RCBC.

Deguito, on her part, has denied the allegations against her, saying that her transactions with the questioned accounts were aboveboard.

She also said that her actions were known to her superiors, including the president of RCBC.

FROM BANGLADESH TO PH CASINOS

The AMLC earlier said that Go's alleged account was used to funnel "dirty money" into the Philippine financial system, along with the accounts of Michael Francisco Cruz, Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, Alfred Santos Vergara, Enrico Teodoro Vasquez, and Kam Sin Wong (Kim Wong).

Cruz, Lagrosas, Vergara and Vasquez opened US accounts in RCBC on May 2015.

These remained unused until Feb. 5, 2016 when a payment of $81 million supposedly from the central bank of Bangladesh entered the accounts.

Most of the money was converted into pesos by remittance firm Philrem.

The money, on Go’s alleged order, was transferred to the bank accounts of Weikang Xu, a supposed junket operator in the gaming business, and to Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. Ltd. as well as Bloomberry, operator of Solaire.

Kim Wong, the sixth person linked to the scam, has no direct links to the group but has the same surname as the incorporator of Eastern Hawaii Leisure which operates a hotel-casino complex at the Cagayan Special Economic Zone.

The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) does not cover casinos. Hence, it is not certain what happened to the $81 million that was allegedly funneled into Solaire and Eastern Hawaiian.

READ: 'Senators lobbied to exclude casinos from money laundering law'

The Senate blue ribbon committee and the congressional oversight committee on the AMLA will lead a hearing on the controversy on Tuesday.