Kathlyn dela Cruz, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/business/rcbc-maia-santos-deguito-erik-de-castro,-reuters-031716.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Maia Santos Deguito, manager of the RCBC Jupiter, Makati branch, testifies during a Senate hearing of money laundering involving the theft of $81 million from the US account of the Bangladesh Bank, in Manila on Thursday. Erik De Castro, Reuters</div></figcaption></figure></div>MANILA (UPDATED) - P20 million in cash withdrawn from one of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) accounts used in the $81-million money laundering heist was allegedly loaded into the car of the bank&#x27;s Jupiter, Makati branch manager, Maia Santos Deguito, a former customer service head of the bank said.Testifying on Thursday before the Senate committee investigating the transfer of the stolen money from the central bank of Bangladesh to the Philippine banking system, former RCBC Jupiter, Makati branch customer service head Romualdo Agarrado said that he personally saw P20 million in cash loaded into the car of Deguito on February 5.The money, Agarrado said, came from the supposed account of businessman William So Go, where $22.7 million had entered on the same day. Go has repeatedly denied owning the dollar account, saying it was opened without his knowledge. During the hearing, RCBC&#x27;s legal and regulatory affairs head Maria Cecilia Fernandez-Estavillo confirmed that the account bore signatures that did not match the signatures of Go in his account in the bank&#x27;s Trinoma branch.<div><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03/17/16/william-gos-signatures-forged-rcbc-confirms" target="_blank">READ: William Go&#x27;s signatures forged, RCBC confirms</a></div>According to Agarrado, who served as customer service head of the bank&#x27;s Jupiter, Makati branch from March 16, 2015 to February 17, 2016, Go was not present when the withdrawal of P20 million from his supposed account was requested on February 5. The withdrawal slip, however, had an affixed signature of Deguito, he said, which is why no one questioned the transaction.The withdrawal slip was handed to the branch&#x27;s senior customer relationship officer, Angela Torres, who then communicated with the cash center, Agarrado said.At around 5:30 p.m., which was already beyond banking hours, an armored car from the cash center arrived carrying the P20 million. The money was brought to the teller, who counted the bundles of cash.The money was then brought to the office of Deguito and later loaded into her car, contrary to her claim that the cash was loaded into the vehicle of Go.&quot;Between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m., the teller, binilang niya ulit tapos nilagay niya sa box, nilagay po sa room ni branch manager Maia Deguito. That time, si BM (branch manager) po nasa labas ng branch. I think she was talking to somebody, nasa cellphone,&quot; Agarrado recalled.&quot;Tapos po, the messenger, Jovy Morales, naghanap po sila ng paper bag, nilipat po nila yung pera. Then si Jovy Morales po nag-load sa kotse po ni manager Maia Deguito.&quot;&quot;Kitang-kita ko po kasi nakaupo po ako sa table ko fronting the main door of the branch. Glass lang po siya so kitang-kita sa labas even thought it&#x27;s 6:30 or quarter to 7 [pm] already. Yung ilaw po ay maliwanag sa loob ng branch. Personally, nakita ko,&quot; he added.<div>A DIFFERENT STORY </div>Torres, whom Agarrado described as a close friend and &quot;kanang kamay&quot; of Deguito, also claimed in her affidavit that the P20-million cash was loaded into Go&#x27;s car and that the pertinent documents were signed by Go himself.In an interview with radio DZMM, Torres said she personally handed the cash to Go on the night of February 5. The bank employee confirmed that cash was delivered to the branch at around 5:30 to 5:45 p.m. but that it was her and Agarrado who counted the money. She said that it was her and Jovy Morales, the branch messenger, who brought the cash outside to Go&#x27;s Lexus. She said Go, who was on the passenger seat, did not leave the vehicle but only rolled down his window. She also said that she had Go receive the money and sign the withdrawal slip. The slip is now with RCBC officials. She also said that before that encounter, she had called up Go about his opening of a dollar account. &quot;It was Miss Maia who gave me his number. I just confirmed that he was opening a dollar account because he already has a peso account. He said yes, magpapa-open ako. It was casual,&quot; she said. She also noted that Go&#x27;s peso account usually gets check deposits. <div>PERJURED?</div>For her part, Estavillo said that following their own investigation, they consider Torres&#x27; affidavit as &quot;perjured&quot; and they &quot;do not trust her credibility.&quot;&quot;Because the guard log does not support her affidavit, because Mr. Agarrado&#x27;s affidavit contradicts it, and because our evidence show it to be false, we intend to file criminal charges of perjury against her,&quot; said Estavillo.The closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera in the area was not working at the time the money was loaded into Deguito&#x27;s car, Agarrado noted.<figure class="op-social"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XU2Y2WKbCZU?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" width="510"></iframe></figure><div>&#x27;I WOULD RATHER DO THIS THAN DIE&#x27;</div>On February 9, Agarrado said he received a notice for recall of the funds. His immediate reaction, he said, was to inform Deguito, being the manager of the branch. However, when he went to her office and told her about the matter, Deguito supposedly just &quot;blankly stared&quot; at him. Deguito later on called him as well as Torres to her office, where she allegedly said she would rather process the transactions than die.&quot;Marami po siyang sinabi pero ang nag-stuck na po sa mind ko na sabi niya, &#x27;I would rather do this than me being killed or my family.&#x27; Tapos bumalik na lang po ako sa table ko that time tapos medyo kinabahan na po ako sa sinasabi niya,&quot; said Agarrado.During the hearing, Deguito vehemently denied making that statement before Agarrado and Torres.&quot;I deny that statement, but everything I will disclose in the executive session,&quot; said Deguito, who has repeatedly refused to answer questions, invoking her right against self-incrimination.In the DZMM interview, Torres also backed up Deguito&#x27;s claim that she did not say her family was in danger. Among all the individuals being linked to the money laundering scheme, Deguito is the only one facing a complaint filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).<div><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/03/17/16/enrile-loses-cool-with-rcbc-branch-manager" target="_blank">READ: Enrile loses cool with RCBC branch manager</a></div><div>&#x27;IS P5 MILLION ENOUGH?&#x27; </div>During his testimony, Agarrado also alleged that Deguito tried to bribe him in the evening of February 12, the day the branch&#x27;s internal auditors started their investigation into the suspicious transactions.The $81 million stolen from the account of the Bangladesh&#x27;s central bank at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was infused to four RCBC accounts whose holders were found to be fictitious.The four accounts were opened in May 2015 and remained dormant until February 5, 2016, when the $81 million was transferred. $66 million of the consolidated funds went to the account of Go while $15 million went to remittance company Philrem.The funds from Go&#x27;s account were eventually remitted in tranches from February 5 to 10 to Philrem, which, in turn, then remitted the money also in tranches -- but already in pesos -- to Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. ($21 million) and Bloomberry, operator of Solaire ($29 million).The remaining $30 million, meanwhile, in the amounts of P600 million and $18 million, were delivered in cash to a casino junket operator identified as Weikang Xu.<div><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03/15/16/casino-junket-operator-got-30-m-in-cash" target="_blank">READ: Casino junket operator got $30-M in cash</a></div>According to Agarrado, in the afternoon of February 12, when he, Deguito, Torres and Morales were separately interviewed by the internal auditors, he had a short conversation with Torres about the P20 million withdrawn from Go&#x27;s account.&quot;I told Angela, &#x27;Oo nga no, si Ma&#x27;am Maia pala ang kumuha ng pera that time, P20 million. Sabi niya sa akin, &#x27;Sir, huwag mong sabihin yan, malilintikan si Ma&#x27;am niyan.&#x27; Sabi ko, &#x27;Bakit ganun? Bakit hindi magsasabi ng totoo?&#x27;&quot;Agarrado said Deguito left the branch at around 6 p.m. After they closed the branch at around 9 p.m., a reserve officer invited Agarrado and the other staff to his house in Forbes Park for a small gathering. Agarrado said he initially refused to go but eventually agreed.To his surprise, Deguito also went to the house of the reserve officer, Agarrado said, where she supposedly &quot;did all the talking.&quot; It was there that Deguito allegedly tried to bribe him with P5 million.&quot;Nakikinig lang po kami and ang isang nag-stuck din sa mind ko was that she has four lawyers and one of the lawyers is a BSP expert/AMLA expert, something like that, and one of the lawyers even suggested to her kung nagpa-compute na raw ba ko ng retirement ko, something like that, and kung kasya na raw ba yung P5 million sa akin,&quot; said Agarrado.&quot;So that time, na-shock din ako. I was really surprised na yun yung sinabi niya. Naguguluhan po ako sa mga nangyayari, pero parang napagtagpi-tagpi ko yung mga nangyari na ganun po.&quot;Deguito, Torres and the reserve officer, he noted, all came from the East West Bank before joining RCBC.On March 5, he said he sent Deguito a text message telling her to just tell the truth. Deguito supposedly replied, &quot;I&#x27;m not hiding unless you believe otherwise.&quot; That was the last time he and Deguito talked to each other, Agarrado said.

MANILA (UPDATED) - P20 million in cash withdrawn from one of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) accounts used in the $81-million money laundering heist was allegedly loaded into the car of the bank's Jupiter, Makati branch manager, Maia Santos Deguito, a former customer service head of the bank said.

P20-M loaded into RCBC manager's car: witness | ABS-CBN

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P20-M loaded into RCBC manager's car: witness

Kathlyn dela Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 17, 2016 05:03 PM PHT

|

Updated Mar 17, 2016 08:40 PM PHT

Read More:

money laundering

heist

Bangladesh

Philippines

RCBC

Maia Santos Deguito

Romualdo Agarrado

Angela Torres

William Go

Senate

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