MANILA (UPDATED)— The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas may expand the scope of its investigations on the BDO-linked string of unauthorized withdrawals after finding out other financial firms could have been involved, an official said Wednesday.

Several BDO clients over the weekend complained of lost funds that were taken out of their accounts without their knowledge.

The BSP has formed an inter-agency task force to lead the probe.

Initial investigations show funds were transferred not just to Unionbank, said BSP Director Melchor Plabasan, who is also part of the BSP Task Force.

"We may expand the scope of this investigation to check the extent of where the money went. We have surveillance showing that institutions other than Unionbank were involved or used to funnel away the stolen money,” Plabasan told ABS-CBN News.

ABS-CBN obtained first-hand testimonies that some affected clients' funds were transferred to other financial institutions aside from Unionbank.

Cecil Andres, who reimbursed by BDO on Wednesday, said her money was transferred to a mobile wallet. Meanwhile, Kuwait-based OFW Arvic Ramos said his funds were sent to another BDO account, as well as an account with another bank.

ABS-CBN has reached out to the mobile wallet company and the other bank for comment but they have yet to respond as of writing.

Plabasan said they have identified 2 to 4 accounts used to transfer funds to Unionbank.

"Those accounts have identities. So far there is no indication that those identities or individuals are employees of either bank," he said.

• BDO says reimbursing close to 700 clients in fraud
• Prosecute criminals 'to full extent allowed by law', says BSP on BDO cyber woes

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier said there could be "insiders" linked to the incident due to the nature of how it unfolded but the investigations would be responsible for proving that.

Diokno reiterated that the task force's goal is to prosecute the fraudsters "to the full extent allowed by law" and to ensure all victims are compensated.

BDO, meanwhile, said "no additional cases have been reported.”

Fintech firm GCash meanwhile said it has not received "any formal inquiry" on the issue.

"We will look into this matter and work closely with all relevant stakeholders concerned," it said in a statement.

BDO, the country's largest bank in terms of assets, earlier said it would reimburse nearly 700 clients victimized by the cybercrime. It has required victims to go to their branches to process the reimbursements.

But on Wednesday, it has made the process easier by letting victims process their papers in any BDO branch "at their convenience."

"This is to further accelerate the completion of the refund," it said.

The Sy-led bank is yet to disclose the total amount involved in the cybercrime.

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