As the Philippine Senate holds its sixth hearing on $81 million Bangladesh Bank fund heist on Tuesday, the Bangladesh ambassador in Manila expressed hope that discussions on the stolen money issue and investigation into the hesit would soon come to a fruitful conclusion.
John Gomes aired optimism back home that the money would be returned to the Bangladesh authorities and he himself would be able to play an important role in that regard.
“Bangladesh is very optimistic. I’m a Roman Catholic from a Muslim (majority) country, so they have more expectation. This is Roman Catholic country, so they think I’m the person to get their money back to Bangladesh,” he said in an interview.
As amounts from the missing money come in trickles, Gomes said he has been reaching out to people and groups who might have possession or knowledge of the Bangladesh funds.
“I’m reaching my hands to everyone, that’s why you have been hearing news that the ambassador has been to Solaire (Resort and Casino), Philrem (remittance service). My point is that we need to finish off this as quickly as possible so that the $81 million can be sent back to Bangladesh, and so that we can continue with our daily affairs,” he said.
“As an ambassador of my country, I would go where these amounts are, and I take it very seriously where or who have this money,” Gomes added.
The $81 million Bangladesh money was wired through bogus accounts to one of the branches of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation in Makati City and ended up in the hands of casino junket operators.
The Senate blue ribbon committee is investigating the heist.
Gomes said both the Philippines and Bangladesh can’t be bogged down with the money laundering issue because it is bad for the countries’ image.
“Internationally speaking, it is not good for a country to be dragged on this for a long time so I would like to talk to anyone and say that look, enough is enough, discussions have been going on, let’s finish this,” he said.
“Let’s get back the money because it belongs to us, no doubt about it. It should be concluded as soon as possible,” he added.
The envoy said his countrymen are in anguish over the heist, adding that as if “something very dear was taken away from them.”
“Bangladesh doesn’t have oil fields. We don’t have huge gold reserves that we can just forget about this. These are money coming from very hardworking people, that is why it really affects me more,” he said.
Gomes went on saying, “This money is what the government will use to make roads, bridges, and hospitals for the people. That is why the people of Bangladesh are concerned that they get this money the soonest, and I feel very bad when I am not able to deliver.”
The ambassador said he has met with the country’s secretary of the Department of Justice, who gave his assurance that all concerned government agencies are working to find solution to the case.
To date, several amounts from the $81 million stolen funds have been turned over to the Anti-Money Laundering Council for safekeeping by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
These amounts are the P38.2 million and the P218 million ($4.63 million) from casino junket operator Kim Wong. Wong had promised to return over P450 million to authorities, which was also part of the looted Bangladesh money.
Wong also claimed that the remittance firm Philrem is still in possession of some $17 million.
Gomes said he expects that the frozen money by the casino (P10 million) and the P1.3 million seized from the room of the Chinese players would be part of the amount that will be handed back to Bangladesh.
But he acknowledged that the Philippines would have to first finish the civil forfeiture case and other legal processes before the money could be given back to Bangladesh.
“Initially I was a little excited because I have already informed Bangladesh that the money is going to be wired very soon within a couple of days,” Gomes said, adding that later on, he was informed that returning the money would have to go through a process.
He said the justice secretary assured him that the money could be transferred as quickly as possible.
“That gives me hope that it’s not going to take so much of time. But I don’t know exactly the time frame, but it should not be, say more than two to three weeks. This is what I expect in the money that we have signed for,” Gomes said.
Source: Prothom Alo
