BB heist probe

Dhaka to ‘share’ info with Manila

Just a day after Finance Minister AMA Muhith denied sharing investigation report with Manila, Law Minister Anisul Haque yesterday said that Bangladesh would share findings from the investigation into how unidentified hackers managed to steal money from the Bangladesh Bank account in the biggest ever cyber heist of the world. The hackers managed to transfer $81 million via an account at the New York Federal Reserve to four accounts in fake names at a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in the Philippines. The law minister said the Bangladesh authorities would share information from the investigation by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to help speed up the recovery of the stolen fund.
“Time to time, Bangladesh will share probe progress report with the authorities of the Philippines government,” said the law minister, adding, “I am hopeful about the recovery of the heist money as the Philippines government is cooperating with us”.
Although I’m not sure about the exact time for the recovery of the money, we are sure that we will get it back, he hoped.     
The law minister also said that the Philippines authority urged them to share the finding of the CID report to ease the recovery of the money.
Earlier on Sunday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said that Bangladesh would not share the probe report on the Bangladesh Bank reserve heist with the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) since it was an internal matter.
“The probe report cannot be given to the RCBC because it is an internal matter of Bangladesh. Even though the Philippines media is reporting about the matter,
we have not received any official request for sharing the probe report with the bank,” the minister told reporters at the secretariat.   After the heist, most of the stolen money was laundered through casinos in Manila. Only about $15m has so far been recovered and returned to Bangladesh, with a further $2.7m remaining frozen. The RCBC was fined a record one
billion Philippines pesos ($20m) by the Philippines central bank, about one fifth of its net profit last year, for its failures to prevent the Bangladesh Bank money from being transferred through accounts at the bank.
An anti-money laundering body last week filed charges against five officials of the RCBC in connection with the heist.

 

BB heist probe

Dhaka to share info with Manila

Just a day after Finance Minister AMA Muhith denied sharing investigation report with Manila, Law Minister Anisul Haque yesterday said that Bangladesh would share findings from the investigation into how unidentified hackers managed to steal money from the Bangladesh Bank account in the biggest ever cyber heist of the world. The hackers managed to transfer $81 million via an account at the New York Federal Reserve to four accounts in fake names at a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in the Philippines. The law minister said the Bangladesh authorities would share information from the investigation by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to help speed up the recovery of the stolen fund. Time to time, Bangladesh will share probe progress report with the authorities of the Philippines government, said the law minister, adding, I am hopeful about the recovery of the heist money as the Philippines government is cooperating with us. Although Im not sure about the exact time for the recovery of the money, we are sure that we will get it back, he hoped. The law minister also said that the Philippines authority urged them to share the finding of the CID report to ease the recovery of the money. Earlier on Sunday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said that Bangladesh would not share the probe report on the Bangladesh Bank reserve heist with the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) since it was an internal matter. The probe report cannot be given to the RCBC because it is an internal matter of Bangladesh. Even though the Philippines media is reporting about the matter, we have not received any official request for sharing the probe report with the bank, the minister told reporters at the secretariat. After the heist, most of the stolen money was laundered through casinos in Manila. Only about $15m has so far been recovered and returned to Bangladesh, with a further $2.7m remaining frozen. The RCBC was fined a record one billion Philippines pesos ($20m) by the Philippines central bank, about one fifth of its net profit last year, for its failures to prevent the Bangladesh Bank money from being transferred through accounts at the bank. An anti-money laundering body last week filed charges against five officials of the RCBC in connection with the heist.