The committee set up to investigate the cyber theft of USD 81 million from an account of the Bangladesh Bank abroad has held the global financial network, SWIFT, and others responsible for the heist. The probe committee submitted its final report yesterday.  The head of the committee and former central bank governor, Dr Farashuddin, handed over the report to finance minister AMA Muhith. The other members of the committee, professor of the Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology (BUET), Mohammad Kaikobad, and additional secretary of the Bank Division, Gakul Chand Das, were also present. On February 4, hackers made a number of orders through SWIFT to transfer USD 101 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and transferred USD 81 million to the Philippines’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, from where the money was moved to local casinos.
In all, $20 million were recovered from Sri Lanka later. The full contents of the report and the recommendations could not be known immediately. However, ministry sources said the probe report will be made public by mid-June.
The finance minister did not divulge anything before the media but only said the report contained some “very important” information. He, however, said: “The contents of the report will be disclosed soon and the recommendations made will be implemented.” Farashuddin said the interim report had been submitted in haste. The final report has been changed to a great extent—around 90 per cent, he added. On May 15, Farashuddin blamed SWIFT, saying its platform was compromised and changes it made in the system were not communicated to Bangladesh Bank officials.  In response to a question, Farshudin said: “We found out who were responsible for the heist at home and abroad. We've mentioned how much money will  be recovered, and overall it’s an optimistic one.”  The former central bank governor said SWIFT is responsible and they cannot deny it. “So, in future, the government will have to work with them to resolve the problem.”  The Bank and Financial Institution Division formed the three-member probe committee on March 15, and asked it to submit the interim report within a month and the final one within 75 days.