Law minister, attorney general and BB governor to visit Philippines to retrieve stolen money

The law minister will fly to the Philippines with a powerful delegation in an attempt to expedite the retrieval of rest of the money stolen in a cyber theft earlier this year.

Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance Ministry Abdur Razzaq, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir will accompany Law Minister Anisul Huq in the tour beginning Nov 26.

The law minister confirmed the visit in a meeting with the journalists but declined to give details.

“I will talk to you after I come back from the Philippines finishing our work,” Huq said adding, “I don’t want to say that I will this or that unless I finish the work.”

“Whatever the outcome of the visit, I will inform you,” he told reporters.

The delegation will come back on Nov 30.

One-fifth of the money, swindled by an organised gang of cyber criminals, foreign businessmen and bankers, has already been retrieved.

In February this year cyber criminals hacked into Bangladesh Bank’s swift system and channeled $81 million to the Philippines.

So far $15 million has been retrieved. The central bank is trying to retrieve rest of the money, some of which are kept frozen with casinos in the Philippines.