Ex-RCBC Exec Conviction of $81M Bangladesh Bank Heist

Former bank manager, Maia Deguito, has lost her appeal against the conviction of money laundering charges relating to the $81 million stolen by hackers from Bangladesh's central bank in 2016. The Court of Appeals dismissed Deguito's appeal to reverse her conviction and upheld the decision of the Makati City Regional Trial Court, which found her guilty of eight counts of violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act. Deguito was the manager of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.'s Jupiter Street branch in Makati City where the fake bank accounts were opened to deposit the stolen money. The court confirmed that all the elements of the offense were present in the case of Deguito, and she had knowledge that the accounts were opened solely for the purpose of receiving proceeds derived from an unlawful activity. Deguito was sentenced to four to seven years imprisonment for each of the eight counts of money laundering and required to pay not more than 200 percent of the value of the laundered amount.