Philippine authorities have obtained a copy of the Chinese passport of Weikang Xu — a man believed to have received P600 million and $18 million in cash, out of the $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank and then laundered in the country, reports the daily Inquirer.
It says the dollars were converted into pesos by a remittance company called Philrem, as confirmed by its president Salud Bautista, and then transmitted in various tranches to the bank accounts of Xu, Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. and Bloomberry Hotels Inc. (Solaire Resorts).
Details in the passport printed in English, show that Xu is 44 years old, and was born on 3 November 1972, according to the Inquirer report published on Tuesday.
His passport was reportedly issued on 23 May 2011 by the public security ministry of the Republic of China and will expire on 24 May 2021.
Inquirer quoting sources at the casino said that even after news on the scam first broke out in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Xu — first identified as a Chinese junket operator, but later on corrected by Solaire as a “mere gambler” — was still gambling in the casino along Roxas Boulevard.
As report, a source said Xu, however, was barred from entering and playing in the popular casino on the orders of the Solaire management, after the hotel bank accounts were frozen by the anti-money laundering council (AMLC).
The AMLC filed charges against Xu and Kim Wong, a junket operator, in connection with the $81-million money laundering scheme before the justice department, said the report.
It quoted Senatpr Serge Osme as sayingñthat Wong might be a “major player” in the money laundering scandal.