World’s biggest cyber heists, the theft of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank, seems to be the handiwork of Chinese hackers according to a senator in the Philippines.

On the other hand, a female bank manager in Manila accused to be a part of the heist claimed that she was merely a pawn of senior bankers and unnamed tycoons.

In what is the largest online heist in human history, Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was hacked by unidentified hackers in early February, stole the money and then funneled it through a Manila branch of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC). The money was ultimately channeled to casinos and gambling agents in the Philippines.

“It would appear they are not Filipino hackers (but) possibly Chinese hackers. They saw the vulnerability in the (Philippines) banking system or one bank,” said Ralph Recto during a Senate inquiry in the capital Manila.

However no explanation was given by Recto about why he thought the hackers were Chinese.  The money was brought into the Philippines by two Chinese high-rollers, one from Macau and one from Beijing, the Senate was told in a previous session.

Most of the transactions at the New York Fed were blocked even as the hackers who infiltrated the computer systems of Bangladesh Bank tried to steal $951 million from its account.

However the hackers managed to siphon off $81 million. This money as transferred into four RCBC accounts at a single Manila branch. Each of the accounts was opened with a $500 deposit and had remained inactive for almost a year. All of the funds were further distributed after being transferred to a foreign exchange broker.

“I am but a pawn in a high-stakes chess game played by giants in international banking and high finance,” Maia Santos Deguito, the branch manager, told the senate committee.

“If this committee is looking for the ‘grandmaster,’ it is not me,” she said.

Deguito blamed the crime on senior RCBC officials “in cahoots with extremely wealthy businessmen whose far-reaching powers and influence span several countries,” even as she did not take any names.

Even transactions totaling hundreds of millions of dollars could be handled by branch managers without prior approval from head office, RCBC’s president and lawyer had said in a previous hearing pointing fingers are Deguito.

A Chinese casino boss and junket operator called Kim Wong had received a total of almost $35 million through his casino company and Philrem, the foreign exchange broker and the inquiry has led to the recovery of about $5.5 million from Wong.

Wong said a portion of what he had received had already been spent on gambling chips for clients even while he denied any involvement in the heist and promised to pay back another 450 million pesos ($9.7 million) of the stolen money.

Philrem, whose husband-and-wife representatives came under fire at Tuesday’s inquiry had a further $17 million of the loot, Wong said.

Eastern Hawaii Leisure Company, which is owned by Wong; and to an ethnic Chinese man believed to be a junket operator in Manila and Bloomberry Resorts Corp, which owns and operates the upmarket Solaire casino in Manila were the two companies where Philrem had distributed the stolen $81 million.

(adapted from reuters.com)

Categories: Economy & Finance, Regulations & Legal