East West Bank probes P200-M bribe offer

EAST West Bank (EWB) is looking into allegations made by a client, businessman William So Go, that one of its branch managers had tried to entice him with a “P200-million” money-making deal with Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito, a former EWB manager.

Deguito, along with several “John Does” who are believed to be using aliases, has been charged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council with involvement in the entry of $81 million in dirty money into the RCBC branch on Jupiter Street in Makati City.

The funds, later found to be part of money stolen by hackers from the account of the central bank of Bangladesh with the US Federal Reserve Bank in New York, eventually found their way to local casinos.

Go testified at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that it was Allan Peñalosa of the EWB branch in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) who first invited him to meet with Deguito and asked him if he wanted to earn P200 million.

He claimed Peñalosa had told him that he could not explain the matter fully and that Deguito would give him a more detailed answer

Based on Go’s account, this was the same meeting where Deguito confessed to opening an account in his name and in which the controversial RCBC branch manager offered him P10 million to go with the scheme—an allegation denied by Deguito in earlier interviews.

“We have no knowledge of the alleged involvement of Mr. Allan Peñalosa, store head [manager] of East West Bank-Burgos Circle (Bonifacio Global City), in arranging the supposed meeting between Ms Maia Deguito and Mr. William So Go. Mr. Peñalosa’s alleged involvement with Mr. Go is not related to his functions as an officer of the Bank,” EWB said in a press statement Wednesday.

Nonetheless, the bank said: “We will investigate these reports and shall take the necessary actions in accordance with existing bank policies.”

EWB president Antonio Moncupa Jr. said the bank would let  Peñalosa attend today’s hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee on the money-laundering scheme.

“Yes, Peñalosa should appear,” Moncupa said.

The meeting that Peñalosa allegedly brokered took place on Feb. 23 at Mary Grace restaurant in Serendra at BGC, Go said.

Asked during the hearing what role Peñalosa played in this, Go said: “I have no idea.”

Go’s company, Centurytex Trading, is a client of EWB, where Deguito used to work before joining RCBC in 2013. He said he had previously met Deguito when she was with EWB.

The businessman has vehemently denied owning the US dollar account that was opened on Feb. 5, the same day the $81 million was wired to four suspicious bank accounts at the RCBC branch on Jupiter Street.