MANILA - Senator Serge Osmeña, one of the senators investigating the $81-million money laundering scandal, believes that among the testimonies of resource persons, that of RCBC branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito is "closer to the truth."

"I think Deguito was closer to the truth. It was fairly easy to check out most of her facts. For example, she explained to us that there were five accounts that were opened in May 2015, at kinumbida siya sa isang merienda ni Mr. Kim Wong sa Midas Hotel, and he introduced Ms. Deguito to five gentlemen and said, 'I'd like you to open dollar accounts for these five gentlemen and here are their IDs, information sheet, etc.," the senator said.

"Tinanong namin kay Ms. Deguito, ‘Did you check whether the IDs looked valid?’ And she said, ‘Yes, that was their photos on the IDs, the IDs looked authentic, so I took it for granted, I took Mr. Kim Wong’s word for it. So when I opened the five accounts, Mr. Kim Wong sent me $2,500 in cash to take care of the minimum balance of those accounts. Of the five accounts, only four were used, the fifth was totally inactive," he added.

Deguito is facing money-laundering charges over what is believed to be the country's largest money-laundering case, involving funds stolen from the central bank of Bangladesh.

LOOK: $81M heist: The money trail

Osmeña said Kim Wong, who has been invited to the Senate probe, is turning out to be a major player in the scam because he was the one who kept following up if the money has reached the RCBC accounts and also chose PhilRem as the remittance company.

He said that according to Deguito's testimony, Wong would check with the bank every 20 minutes on February 5 if the $81 million had been deposited.

“We felt that she was lending credibility to her story,” Osmeña said.

Deguito earlier said she met Wong through Jason Go, a car trader and a valued client of RCBC.

READ: How RCBC branch manager met Jason Go, Kim Wong

Go is also reported to be the one who recommended Deguito to be hired as branch manager of the RCBC Jupiter branch.

“The RCBC branch in Jupiter is right next to the office and operations of Jason Go. Remember, he runs the biggest second-hand car dealership in Metro Manila, so I guess he wanted somebody who will be friendly to him, would do him some favors, we don’t know, but it stands to reason that seems to be truth—Jason Go did recommend Deguito to be the branch manager of the Jupiter branch of RCBC,” said Osmeña.

RCBC president and chief executive Lorenzo Tan has denied having a hand in Deguito's hiring, but admitted to knowing both Go and Wong.

Osmeña noted that Jason Go's name already surfaced prior to the hearings.

“We do our own sleuthing outside of the hearings. Marami naman nagsusumbong sa amin, kilala itong mga grupo na ito eh, they’re not sleepers, maybe they’re not in the newspapers but the community tends to be familiar with their activities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the senator hopes the ongoing Senate probe will result in weakening the bank secrecy law and strengthening the Anti-Money Laundering Law.

"We will try to finish examining and nailing down the process that they follow with the remittance company. And then we want to know also what are the other activities William Go, Jason Go, Eastern Hawaiian, and the other companies do. This might give as an indication whether they operate more outside the law than within the law. Then we also want to nail down the process that the casinos undertake when they receive this money," Osmeña said.

"I just read yesterday when the PAGCOR president said that, 'Wala that's already laundered through the bank and when it gets to the casino, wala na laundered na 'yan.' That's not true, that's the exact opposite. It's the casino that launders the money, but the moment it goes to the casino to a name like Weikang Xu, it disappears because it becomes co-mingled with all the money as they play at the casino," he added.

The next Senate hearing is scheduled on March 29, Tuesday.