Dhaka urges Manila to try others responsible for $81m BB heist

Bangladesh on Thursday clled on the Philippines to speed up cases against six other Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) officials after one of its ex-managers was convicted of money laundering over an $81-million cyber heist.

"There's another case being handled by DoJ (Department of Justice) against six other RCBC officials. We hope this case could be expedited and could go to trial soon for a decision," ABC CBN News quoted Bangladesh ambassador to the Philippines Asad Alam Siam as saying in a report from Manila.

Bangladesh embassy in Manila also shared the news link on its Facebook page.

Maia Santos Deguito was sentenced to four to seven years in prison for each of eight counts of money laundering and was ordered to pay a fine of $109 million.

Deguito was the manager of the RCBC branch where a portion of the $81 million that was stolen by unknown hackers from Bangladesh Bank was deposited in accounts under fictitious names.

In a separate statement, according to the report, RCBC said Deguito's conviction showed that it was the "victim" and that the ex-manager was a "rogue employee."