Bangladeshi investigators to visit Sri Lanka to probe $ 81mn theft
Bangladeshi investigators will travel to Sri Lanka, Philippines and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to investigate the theft of $ 81 million from its accounts, a news report on AFP said.
Hackers stole the money from the Bangladesh Bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on February 5 and managed to transfer it electronically to accounts in the Philippines.
The FBI has agreed to help Bangladesh investigate the theft from the nation’s foreign reserves, authorities said Sunday, days after the finance minister accused central bank officials of complicity in the heist.
A FBI official in Dhaka met with representatives from Bangladesh’s Criminal Investigation Department and offered to assist with the investigation into the spectacular cross-country theft.
“Both the FBI and the CID have agreed to work together since it’s a transnational organised crime and transnational criminal networks are involved,” Md. Saiful Alam, deputy inspector general of CID, told AFP.
There was no immediate comment from the FBI.
The audacious cyber-theft has embarrassed the government, triggered outrage in the impoverished country and raised alarm over the security of the Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves of over $27 billion.
The central bank governor, his two deputies and the country’s top banking bureaucrat lost their jobs following the theft and the government has been scrambling to contain the damage from the spiralling scandal.
Police said Bangladeshi investigators were planning to travel to the Philippines, Sri Lanka and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as part of the transnational probe into the heist.
However, investigators say local hackers were likely involved in the theft.
“We suspect some local people are involved in the crime. The names of local development projects were used in the payment advices sent to the Federal Reserve Bank,” Alam said.
“This has raised our suspicion that there could be some local links.”
In a damning interview published on Friday, the country’s Finance Minister A.M.A Muhith told the Bengali-language daily Prothom Alo that Bangladesh Bank officials were “100 percent” involved in the scandal.
“Of course! One hundred percent they are (involved). This cannot be possible without complicity of the locals,” the newspaper, which has the highest circulation of any in Bangladesh, quoted Muhith as saying.
Muhith said the New York bank requires hand prints and other biometric information from central bank officials to activate transactions, appearing to suggest the hackers could not have carried out the attack without inside help.
(Courtesy: AFP)
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It is one thing to get the Fed Reserve Bank, US to authorise the release of over 100 million dollars to banks in Sri Lanka and the Philippines and another to to get the money from the Banks in this case Pan Asia Bank either directly or as electronic transfers which would defenitely leave a trail.
Ravi to attract dollars promoted the idea of `no questions asked’ for foreigners to deposit $$$ into the SL banking systems, and had to abandon when banks raised objections to it. In fact Ravi was braging of a prospective Belgian who wanted to deposit a billion dollars and apparently had done so. The philanthropic Belgian remains a mystery for he could have been the link to this operation!!
The Deutsche Bundersbank processes most of the dollars pedged to NGO in Sri Lanka consequently their operations need to critically examined and as to whether all transactions been reported to the Central Bank. Those who operated this heist must have been aware of the fact.
Finally the GOSL ought to make the NGO’s accountable for all the
BCID pls have a look into Rajapakse family’s accounts . They are the massive money launderers ever in Sri Lanka.
@Ashik,
Yes why don’t you try to get the things done correctly. Still MR is available to question.
But don’t forget, central bank governor and PM had involved in foreign bill fraud which is still a mystery.
People in SL lost 780Mn and now still its growing with the interest.
Govt taking loans to pay this and covering it with MR’s account.
Those who are questioned within the CBSL were transferred.
Can you do something with that too?