The central bank has admitted that a portion of over $100 million reserve funds it lost to hackers has gone out of the banking system but it hopes to recover the money.
Published : 09 Mar 2016, 09:59 PM
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According to Bangladesh Bank officials, hackers had transferred $81 million to the Philippines and $20 million to Sri Lanka from its account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
They said the central bank had already retrieved the money transferred to Sri Lanka and was trying to get back the funds channelled to the Philippines.
But a portion of the money sent to the Philippines had already been withdrawn before the authorities could freeze the accounts in question, central bank Executive Director Subhankar Saha said on Wednesday.
But he said they were still hopeful of getting back the entire amount.
"The central bank of Philippines has taken the matter seriously," Saha told reporters, adding that a court in the Southeast Asian country had also ordered the authorities to take necessary measures to recover the money.
His remarks came after a meeting between the central bank officials and CEOs and treasury division heads of all banks operating in the country on ‘Cyber Security on Payment System Infrastructure in Bangladesh’.
The meeting discussed means to recover the stolen money.
Deputy Governor Abu Hena Md Razee Hassan and the central bank’s new IT Governance Specialist Rakesh Asthana also spoke to the media along with Saha.
This was the first time Bangladesh Bank officials faced journalists after it had lost the money, which was a part of its $28 billion foreign exchange reserves, to hackers.
A report by the Philippines’ Daily Inquirer last week said Chinese hackers had breached the Bangladesh Bank account and stolen $100 million from it.
It also said the funds had been leaked into the Philippines’ banking system, transferred to local casinos, and moved out to overseas accounts.
But, Bangladesh Bank on Monday said it had retrieved a portion of the money, but did not disclose how much funds were stolen or the amount found.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith, who had been in the dark about the matter at first, on Tuesday said the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was liable for the massive steal, not the central bank.
He also said they will file a lawsuit to recover the money, if necessary.
The Federal Reserve Bank spokeswoman Andrea Priest, however, has already claimed that their systems had not been breached.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Subhankar Saha said, "A portion of the stolen money is still in the Philippines banking system while the rest has been taken out."
He said the $20 million retrieved from the Sri Lankan bank will soon be deposited into the central bank's account 'for sure'.
Replying to a query, Razee Hassan said the Anti-Money Laundering Council of the Philippines was working to find out whose accounts were used to transfer the money and where it was spent.
Saha said they cannot share the details ‘in the interest of investigation'. "But we still believe that our account in that American bank was hacked."
He said they did not know anything about reports that some central bank officials were being investigated for their alleged involvement with the hacking and stealing.
Razee Hassan said they informed the finance minister about the matter two weeks later when ‘the situation called for it’.
"We didn't inform anyone as an enquiry was ongoing. But relevant sections of the government were duly notified, when needed, for the sake of the investigation."
The deputy governor at the media call introduced IT specialist Rakesh Asthana, a former World Bank director, who he said was working to recover the stolen money.
Asthana, Managing Director and CEO of US-based consulting firm World Informatix Cyber Security, faced a barrage of questions from reporters.
When asked whether any central bank officials were involved in the crime and whether the hacking and stealing had taken place in Bangladesh Bank or the Federal Reserve Bank, he only said, "It is not easy to say something about this matter when it is being investigated."
The head of the treasury division of a bank, who attended the meeting, told bdnews24.com that the central bank had said it will conduct 'vulnerability assessment' at all banks in the country to strengthen cyber security.