A Philippines court has dismissed the defamation suit the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) filed against Bangladesh’s central bank on 6 March 2019 in connection with the reserve heist at Bangladesh Bank.
The Philippines court dismissed the lawsuit on 30 June.
RCBC filed the defamation suit following Bangladesh Bank’s case against the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation and 19 other individuals and companies at a court of the US in 2019.
Speaking to Prothom Alo about this, Sirajul Islam, Bangladesh Bank’s spokesperson said, “A Philippines court has dismissed the defamation suit of RCBC. As a result, the case is no longer effective.”
Bangladesh Bank filed a case against the RCBC at a US court on 2 January 2019 in a bid to recover the money. The case statement said RCBC and its senior officials had total control over the accounts involved with the process. It said that despite knowing about the crime being committed, RCBC allowed the accounts to be opened with the transfer of huge sums of money and and later also allowed the closure of these accounts .
RCBC filed the defamation suit as a counter case at a Philippines court demanding 100 million (10 crore) Philippine peso.
Some USD 101 million (10 crore and 10 lakh) was removed from the Bangladesh Bank’s reserve at Federal Reserve Bank of New York in a heist that took place on 4 February 2016. Of the amount, the transfer of 20 million was stopped but another 81 million was transferred through four messages at four accounts at the Jupiter Street branch of RCBC in Makati city in the Philippines. The accounts were opened with fake information.
The proceedings of the case Bangladesh Bank filed in this connection is underway in New York.