Bangladesh Bank sends letters to US, Philippines to recover stolen money

The Bangladesh Bank has sent letters to the central banks of the US and Philippines and two other offices seeking ‘effective’ steps to recover its stolen money.

The Bangladesh Bank had lost $81 million kept in the Federal Reserve of New York to hackers last month.

Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Shubhankar Saha told the media on Sunday that the letters were sent after new Governor Fazle Kabir joined.

Saha said the letters were sent to the US Federal Reserve System Chair Janet L Yellen, Philippine central bank Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M Tetangco Junior, the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Council chief Julia Bacay Abad, and Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN Masud Bin Momen.

“The process to recover the money by communicating with people concerned on phone is also on,” he added.

The central bank has also issued a circular to appoint two deputy governors.

The government sacked two deputy governors after the then governor Atiur Rahman resigned in the face of immense pressure following the cyber theft.

Bangladesh lost $81 million from its US account in early February in the biggest cyber theft in banking history.