The Supreme Court of the State of New York has junked the suit filed by Bangladesh Bank against billionaire Ricky Razon’s Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc. (Solaire Resrort & Casino) pertaining to a cyber theft that involved Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) led by bankero Eugene Acevedo.
The US court granted the motion of Bloomberry for the dismissal of the complaint filed by Bangladesh Bank for lack of jurisdiction through a decision and order dated April 8, 2022.
“Ordered that the defendant Bloomberry Resorts and Hotel’s motion to dismiss the complaint is granted, and the complaint is dismissed in its entirety as against the defendant, with costs and disbursements to defendant Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels as taxed by the Clerk of the Court,” the dispositive portion stated.
The court also ordered the clerk to enter judgment accordingly in favor of defendant Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels.
Aside from Razon’s Bloomberry, another respondent named in the case filed by the Bangladesh Bank were Eastern Hawaii Leisure Company Ltd or Midas Hotel & Casino.
The primary respondent in the case was Yuchengco-led RCBC as well as officials and employees, including former bankero Lorenzo Tan and RCBC treasurer Raul Victor Tan, branch manager Maia Santos Deguito, Angela Ruth Torres, Ismael Reyes, Brigitte Capina, Nestor Pineda, Romualdo Agarrado, Kim Wong, Weikang Xu, Ding Zhize, Gao Shuhua as well as several John Does.
Philrem Service Corp., Salud Bautista, Michael Bautista, Centurytex Trading, and William So Go were also respondents to the complaint filed by the Bangladesh Bank.
The case stemmed from the world’s biggest cyber heist wherein $81 million were stolen from the Bangladesh central bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York through fraudulent orders on the SWIFT payments system in February 2016.
Of the total amount, only $15 million has been recovered from a Manila casino junket operator.
