THE Court of Appeals (CA) has upheld the decision of the Manila Regional Trial Court lifting the preservation orders issued against the assets of casino junket operator Kam Sin Wong on suspicion these were used to launder the $81million stolen by hackers from the Bank of Bangladesh in 2016.
In a two-page resolution promulgated dated August 2, the appellate court’s former Special Second Division dismissed the motion for reconsideration filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) seeking the reversal of its April 29, 2022 decision on the ground that it failed to raise new and substantial arguments or evidence to justify the reconsideration of the assailed ruling.
The CA decision was penned by Associate Justice Fernanda Lampa Peralta and was concurred by Associate Justices Bonifacio Pascua and Jennifer Joy Ong.
“Once again, the Court made a careful and judicious study of the merits of the case, in light of the respective arguments of petitioner in its motion for reconsideration of the Court’s Decision dated April 29, 2022, and private respondents in their comment/opposition to the motion. The Court is not swayed to reconsider,” the decision read.
In its assailed decision, the appellate court said the Manila RTC did not act beyond its discretion when it granted the request of respondents Kam, his company Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co, Ltd., Qiaoqiao Wendy Wang and Dong Na X to free their accounts with the Philippine National Bank from its order issued on October 16, 2019.
The Manila RTC also granted their motion to discharge the asset preservation orders on the ground that the subject bank accounts were opened with Allied Banking Corporation before the hacking of the bank account of the Bangladesh Bank with Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Likewise, the lower court said that AMLC failed to present evidence that the respondents connived with PhilRem Service Corporation in committing an unlawful activity and that they had prior knowledge that the P1 billion remitted by the latter to their accounts came from funds stolen by hackers from the Bangladesh Bank.
Furthermore, the lower court pointed out that while Kam and Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. Ltd.’s act of surrendering to the AMLC the amounts of US$4,630,000 and P488.28 million was an acknowledgment that the same were proceeds of the hacking of the bank account of the Bangladesh Bank it could not be denied that such act was a demonstration of their good faith.
