Monday, 22 September, 2025
A Dhaka court has ordered the confiscation of US$81 million from the Philippines’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in connection with the 2016 Bangladesh Bank (BB) reserve heist, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police confirmed.
“The court issued the order last Thursday (18 September) to seize the funds held in RCBC, over nine years after the theft,” CID Chief Md Sibgat Ullah said at a press conference in Dhaka on Sunday. A copy of the court order has been sent to senior RCBC officials in the Philippines.
The Senior Special Judge's Court in Dhaka issued the directive under Section 17(2)(7) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, following an application by the CID.
Investigations by the CID revealed that RCBC officials, including then-president and CEO Lorenzo Tan and branch manager Maia Santos Deguito of the bank’s Jupiter Branch in Makati City, along with other head office staff, were complicit in opening fictitious accounts to funnel the stolen funds.
Despite receiving official instructions from Bangladesh Bank to halt the payments, these officials illegally disbursed the stolen funds, the CID said.
“Courts in the Philippines have already convicted RCBC officials for their roles, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas imposed significant penalties on the bank. On 16 February 2016, RCBC returned only $68,000 to Bangladesh Bank, marking its first step toward repaying the stolen funds,” the CID added.
Based on the evidence, the CID concluded that RCBC, as a corporate entity, committed money laundering under Section 27 of the Money Laundering Prevention Act. The Dhaka court has now ordered that the full $81 million be repatriated to the Bangladesh government’s treasury.
The heist occurred on 5 February 2016, when hackers stole $101 million from Bangladesh Bank’s accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Of this, $20 million was sent to Sri Lanka, later recovered after authorities flagged the transactions. The remaining $81 million was routed through RCBC accounts in the Philippines and quickly dispersed to casinos and other entities, prompting a global investigation.
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A Dhaka court has ordered the confiscation of US$81 million from the Philippines’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in connection with the 2016 Bangladesh Bank (BB) reserve heist, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police confirmed.
“The court issued the order last Thursday (18 September) to seize the funds held in RCBC, over nine years after the theft,” CID Chief Md Sibgat Ullah said at a press conference in Dhaka on Sunday. A copy of the court order has been sent to senior RCBC officials in the Philippines.
The Senior Special Judge's Court in Dhaka issued the directive under Section 17(2)(7) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, following an application by the CID.
Investigations by the CID revealed that RCBC officials, including then-president and CEO Lorenzo Tan and branch manager Maia Santos Deguito of the bank’s Jupiter Branch in Makati City, along with other head office staff, were complicit in opening fictitious accounts to funnel the stolen funds.
Despite receiving official instructions from Bangladesh Bank to halt the payments, these officials illegally disbursed the stolen funds, the CID said.
“Courts in the Philippines have already convicted RCBC officials for their roles, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas imposed significant penalties on the bank. On 16 February 2016, RCBC returned only $68,000 to Bangladesh Bank, marking its first step toward repaying the stolen funds,” the CID added.
Based on the evidence, the CID concluded that RCBC, as a corporate entity, committed money laundering under Section 27 of the Money Laundering Prevention Act. The Dhaka court has now ordered that the full $81 million be repatriated to the Bangladesh government’s treasury.
The heist occurred on 5 February 2016, when hackers stole $101 million from Bangladesh Bank’s accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Of this, $20 million was sent to Sri Lanka, later recovered after authorities flagged the transactions. The remaining $81 million was routed through RCBC accounts in the Philippines and quickly dispersed to casinos and other entities, prompting a global investigation.
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