Chinese returns part of Bangladesh funds stolen by hackers

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Chinese casino junket operator on Thursday returned $4.63 million of the $81 million that hackers stole from the Bangladesh central bank's account in the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank and laundered in Manila's casinos, officials said.

A Philippine Senate inquiry has shown that the $81 million was diverted to bank accounts created with fictitious names at a branch of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., consolidated and then shifted to the casinos and junket operators through a local remittance company.

An anti-money laundering law does not cover Manila's casinos, which one Philippine senator described as a money trail "black hole."