Wong, Deguito come face-to-face in Senate hearing

Former branch manger of RCBC Maia Santos-Deguito and casino junket operator Kim Wong. INQUIRER PHOTOS/LYN RILLON

Two key players in the alleged $81-million money laundering controversy faced each other for the first time at the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on Tuesday.

Former  branch manager of Rizal Commercial  Banking Corp. (RCBC) Maia Santos-Deguito and  casino  junket  operator  Kam Sin Wong, also  known as  “Kim Wong,”  attended the  hearing, which  began around 11:30 a.m.

Deguito, who testified in the first two hearings of the committee, was a no-show when Wong first appeared and testified at the Senate last March 29.

Deguito earlier claimed that it was Wong, who referred to her the four bank depositors, who had allegedly received and withdrawn the $81 million stolen funds from the Bangladesh’s central bank. Wong, she said, is a friend of RCBC president and chief executive officer Lorenzo Tan.

But Wong, in his testimony during the last hearing, denied Deguito’s allegation, saying that he only referred to the former branch manager one depositor, Shuhua Gao, whom he described as a junket agent.

Wong also tagged Gao and a certain Ding Zhize as the ones who had allegedly brought in the stolen funds into the Philippines.

READ: Kim Wong names 2 Chinese who brought $81M to PH

Aside from Deguito and Wong, two junket operators–Suncity Group Junket and Goldmoon Junket–were also invited in the hearing.

Also  invited  in the hearing are officials and representatives  of RCBC,  Anti-Money Laundering Council,  Philrem Service Corporation,  Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, Bureau of  Internal Revenue among others. CDG