Philippines IR operator Bloomberry Resorts Corporation has vowed to defend itself against legal proceedings after revealing that its gaming subsidiary, Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc (BRHI), is one of 17 defendants summonsed as part of a civil action related to the theft of US$81 million from a Bangladesh bank in 2016.
Bloomberry issued a statement on Wednesday in which it said it had received a summons via courier on 22 February 2019 in the case of “Bangladesh Bank versus Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), et al”, issued by the Clerk of Court of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
It has been reported that around US$29 million of the US$81 million in stolen funds crossed VIP tables at Bloomberry’s Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila via junket agent Kim Wong, another defendant in the case.
In its statement, Bloomberry said, “BRHI will defend itself in this case. It has explained during the hearing on this incident in 2016 by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (with a copy of its reports submitted to PAGCOR, AMLA, and the Bangladesh Ambassador) that it had no knowledge that the funds that were remitted to it and used to purchase gaming chips and played in the gaming floor and in junket rooms in Solaire were stolen.
“BRHI has given full account of the funds that went through its bank account and have disclosed the identity and passports of all those involved. Furthermore, the complicity and negligence of people and companies that allowed the funds to be stolen, moved and converted before they reached BRHI were the proximate causes of the loss of Bangladesh Bank. BRHI was a victim and was not complicit in this case.”
Bangladesh Bank was attached by North Korean hackers in 2016, with the attackers making away with US$81 million after sending multiple remittance orders to an account they held with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. A number of those remittance orders were successfully transacted through various correspondent banks in New York with funds deposited into fake accounts with RCBC.
Some of those funds were later used to purchase chips in Philippines casinos, including Solaire.
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