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A compliance officer of a Philippines-based remittance firm has been found guilty over his role in the 2016 Bangladesh Bank cyber heist, reports the state‑owned Philippines News Agency.
State prosecutors and legal officers of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) secured the conviction of Anthony Pelejo under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, said the Department of Justice (DOJ),
In a statement, the DOJ said Pelejo, a compliance officer of Philrem Service Corp., failed to maintain transaction records as required by law.
In its seven-page verdict dated 17 April, the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 235 sentenced him to up to one year in jail and fined him PHP250,000 (Around Tk505,285).
The court, however, acquitted Philrem president Salud Bautista and treasurer Michael Bautista, citing lack of evidence linking them to the offence.
The DOJ said the BSP, Philippines central bank, received in 2016 a request from the then Governor of Bangladesh Bank to investigate several unauthorized payment instructions totaling USD81 million directed to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC).
The investigation showed that USD80.88 million was deposited into the RCBC bank account of William So Go, doing business under the name Centurytex Trading.
“Go made several fund transfers to the RCBC bank account of Philrem Service Corporation (PHILREM), and the latter further made several transfers to Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels, Inc. (Solaire), Eastern Hawaii Leisure Company, and Wei Kang Xu,” the DOJ said.
Under the law, covered institutions, such as Philrem, are required to maintain and store records of all transactions, including customer identification documents, for five years from the date of the transaction.
This conviction, the DOJ said, is a first in Philippine law, where a compliance officer violated the mandatory record-keeping of a covered institution.
https://thedailyexpress.news/news/business/1f1412e2-e1d0-61b0-9db3-84d2c9eed7ba