RCBC refuses to settle with Bangladesh over $81m heist in 2016

Hackers channeled stolen funds from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Fed to RCBC.

Philippine lender Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) said that it would not settle with the central bank of Bangladesh who is holding it responsible for an $81m theft two years ago. 

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In February 2016, unidentified hackers channeled stolen funds from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Fed to accounts at RCBC which then disappeared into the Philippines’ casino industry.

"Definitely we are not settling with them. We clarified, we are not settling any amount with them. We have been victimised," RCBC president Gil Buenaventura told Philippine media.

RCBC was slapped by a record $20m (PHP1b) fine by the country's central bank in 2016 over its failure to prevent the movement of stolen money. The lender earlier said in a statement that it believes that the cyber heist was an inside job and that Bangladesh Bank was engaged in a cover-up.