The indictment against Manila’s Bloomberry Resorts in the Bangladesh Bank hacking incident has been dismissed by a New York court.

Bloomberry Resorts Corp, the parent company of Manila’s Solaire integrated resort, claims a lawsuit filed against it by Bangladesh Bank for allegedly aiding and abetting the theft of US$81 million by hackers in 2016 has been dismissed by a New York court.

Conversion, theft, and misappropriation; aiding and abetting the same; conspiracy to commit the same; fraud; aiding and abetting and conspiracy to commit fraud; conspiracy to commit trespass against chattels; and unjust enrichment were all charges brought against Bloomberry subsidiary Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels, Inc (BRHI) and others in 2020.

The Bangladesh Bank had been attempting to reclaim at least part of the stolen monies, some of which had previously been discovered to have been transacted and lost through casinos in the Philippines.

Midas Hotel & Casino, which is located in the Clark Freeport Zone north of Manila, was named as a defendant in the action alongside BRHI and Solaire.

Bloomberry stated in a Monday filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange that a New York court had approved its move to dismiss Bangladesh Bank’s complaint for lack of jurisdiction last week.

The court, Bloomberry said, “Ordered that the defendant Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels, Inc.’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 [BRHI] as taxed by the Clerk of the Court, and the Clerk is directed to enter judgment accordingly in favor of defendant [BRHI].”

North Korean hackers issued 35 fake instructions to transfer over $1 billion from Bangladesh Bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the original 2016 incident. The majority of them were blocked by the US bank, but not before five transactions totaling US$101 million were completed.

However, US$81 million deposited to the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) in the Philippines was transacted and lost, partially through casinos, notably Solaire, where some of the monies were used to acquire gaming chips and play in junket rooms.