Bangladesh Bank not moving international court to return stolen fund, for now

Bangladesh Bank says the international court will be moved to return the stolen fund if necessary, but the bank is not considering the option for the time being.

Its spokesperson Shubhankar Saha on Tuesday said, “We are not thinking about initiating any case until today.”

Hackers made a number of transfer orders in early February from Bangladesh Bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York through SWIFT messaging system that banks use for international transfer.

Of the money, transfer of $20 million to Sri Lanka halted due to spelling mistake by the hackers. But $81 million found its way to and beyond the Philippines.

A senate committee in the Philippines is hearing the case being investigated by the anti-money laundering agency AMLC there.

Suspect Chinese casino junket operator Kim Wong in the Philippines has returned nearly $10 million of the stolen fund to the AMLC until now.

It is not clear in the information provided in the senate hearing whether it would be possible to recover the remaining money.  

Bangladesh Ambassador to Manila John Gomes and a central bank team are regularly attending the hearing.

“We are regularly communicating with them. We will take the next steps following the information they give,” Saha said.

The AMLC has informed the senate committee that Bangladesh will have to follow legal process to get the recovered fund.

Saha said, “It’s natural that we have to follow the Filipino legal procedure to get the recovered money, since a crime has been committed there.”

“Our officials have spoken with the Philippines Department of Justice to check if any step can be taken through legal cooperation,” he added.