Press Release
April 5, 2016

WONG ASSURES GUINGONA OF THE RETURN OF P450-M 'DIRTY MONEY' 'GOOD AS CASH'

REELECTIONIST Senator Teofisto "TG" Guingona III received assurance by casino junket operator Kim Wong of the return of P450 million, a portion of the $81-M loot in the Bangladesh central bank cybertheft.

"Opo, sir, nagpagawa na ako ng promissory note, at within 15 days kasi uutang pa ako sa mga kaibigan ko [Yes, sir, I already had a promissory note drafted, and I will comply within 15 days because I still need to borrow money from my friends], Wong answered the Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman in Filipino when pressed on his commitment to return the "dirty money" he took as loan payment by one of the cybercrime suspects identified as Gao Shuhua.

Guingona then quipped, "Good as cash na 'yan ha, hindi 'yan dead chips [That's good as cash, not dead chips]."

Last Thursday, Wong turned over $4.63 million to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) office at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas after testifying before the Blue Ribbon Committee that he was not part of the cybercrime group which tried to sneak "dirty cash" into the country's financial system.

Another P38 million in cash was again turned over by Wong to the AMLC yesterday. The amount, he said, was the remaining junket funds left at a local casino by another suspected cyber criminal.

"The Blue Ribbon probe is getting good results regarding the effort to return the money stolen from Bangladesh, That's almost $10 million or 10 percent of the $81 million. We look forward to more tranches of fund recovery," said Guingona.

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