Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) has filed the defamation suit against Bangladesh Bank to deceive the people of the Philippines, says Law Minister Anisul Huq.
The RCBC officials’ conduct was not lawful, he told the media on Thursday after a meeting with Japanese Ambassador Hiroyasu Izumi.
“The lawsuit has been filed just to deceive the people of their own country.
“The Philippines government and its Philippines blamed the RCBC for hacking to the BBB reserve. It is not defamatory if Bangladesh Bank sues them in line with the law,” Huq said.
Last week, the RCBC filed a lawsuit in a local court accusing the BB of defamation, hitting back at what it says are baseless claims of its complicity in the world’s biggest cyber heist.
In February 2016, criminals used fraudulent orders on the SWIFT payments system to steal $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The money was sent to accounts at Manila-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) and then vanished into the casino industry in the Philippines.
RCBC said its reputation had come under a sustained “vicious and public attack” by Bangladesh Bank. It is seeking at least 100 million pesos ($1.9 million) in damages.
“Bangladesh Bank has embarked on a massive ploy and scheme to extort money from plaintiff RCBC by resorting to public defamation, harassment and threats geared towards destroying RCBC’s good name, reputation, and image,” it said in a statement on Tuesday (Mar 12), citing the civil court filing on Mar 6.