Philippines hopeful of retrieving BB's stolen money

The head of the Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday expressed hopes of recovering the $81 million of Bangladesh Bank's money that was laundered through the Southeast Asian country.

SEC Chairman Teresita Herbosa said: “I am sure some of it will be recovered somehow. I am an optimistic person and I believe in the rule of law.”

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Herbosa also called for further strengthening of the anti-money laundering law, reported the Rappler, a Manila-based news outlet. In an interview on the sidelines of a regional meeting, Herbosa said that there is a need to expand the coverage of the reporting entities and ensure that the Anti-Money Laundering Council or AMLC has the necessary powers to conduct investigation on perpetrators.

Herbosa said the AMLC will now push for the inclusion of casinos in the coverage of the anti-money laundering law.

“We need to strengthen the law. Money laundering can only be stopped if everyone in the world cooperates,” Herbosa, who also co-chairs the AMLC, told reporters.

“It's a global effort to eradicate money laundering. We have to catch up with people doing that activity and while we are doing that we need to strengthen the laws of each country to comfort to best practices.

She said the recent incident should be a “good stimulus” to prompt legislators to strengthen the AMLA, like adding certain groups or individuals, such as casinos, as covered institutions. About $101 million was taken out of the BB's account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in early February using an interbank messaging system known as SWIFT.

   The laundered money was moved via transfer requests, with about $81 million ending up in bank accounts in the Philippines and the remaining going to an account in Sri Lanka. Herbosa is invited to attend a Senate hearing on the money laundering case due today.