Bangladesh presses PH on raps vs other RCBC officials

MANILA -- Bangladesh on Thursday urged the Philippines to speed up cases against 6 other Rizal Commercial Banking Corp officials after one of the lender's ex-managers was convicted of money laundering over an $81-million cyber heist.

Maia Santos Deguito was sentenced to 4 to 7 years in prison for each of 8 counts of money laundering and was ordered to pay a fine of $109 million.

• Ex-RCBC manager Deguito found guilty of money laundering

• 'Scapegoat': Ex-RCBC manager maintained innocence before dirty money verdict

Deguito was the manager of the RCBC branch where a portion of the $81 million that was stolen by unknown hackers of Bangladesh Bank were deposited in accounts under fictitious names.

"There is another case being handled by DOJ against 6 other RCBC officials. We hope that this case could be expedited and could go to trial soon for a decision," Bangladesh Ambassador to the Philippines Asad Alam Siam said in a statement.

In a separate statement, RCBC said Deguito's conviction showed that it was the "victim" and that the ex-manager was a "rogue employee."