President of cyber heist-tainted Philippines` RCBC resigns

President and CEO of Philippines’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation Lorenzo Tan has resigned. The bank said in a statement on Friday that it had accepted the resignation of Tan, even as it cleared the official of any liabilities in connection with the $81-million Bangladesh Bank fund heist. “The board of directors of RCBC has accepted with regrets the resignation of Mr Lorenzo V Tan as president and CEO effective 6 May 2016,” it said. “He resigned to give the board a free hand in directing the course of the bank’s future,” Philippines online newspaper rappler.com said quoting the statement. Until his replacement takes place, RCBC Chair Helen Y Dee will oversee the bank’s operations as president and CEO, according to the statement. RCBC said its internal investigation into the stolen $81-million Bangladesh Bank funds cleared Tan of any breach of bank rules and policies. Tan is the latest RCBC top executive to quit following the investigation of one of the largest money-laundering cases in the world. Part of the stolen funds found its way to several accounts in the RCBC branch in Jupiter in Makati City, and ended up in three local casinos. RCBC Treasurer and Executive Vice-president Raul Victor Tan resigned in April, since Maia Santos-Deguito, one of the central figures in the case, had worked under him. Like Lorenzo Tan, RCBC’s internal investigation had cleared him of involvement in the money-laundering case.–bdnews24.com