Bangladesh Bank heist probe report delayed for 25th time

Police investigating the cyber heist of Bangladesh Bank's reserves in New York have failed to submit a report to court for the 25th time since the case was started last year.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate AKM Mainuddin Siddiki on Thursday fixed Aug 29 as the new deadline for submission.

The Criminal Investigation Department’s Additional Superintendent Raihan Uddin Khan failed to submit the report.

The central bank initiated the case with Motijheel police in February last year after unknown hackers stole $81 million from its account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The CID were given the charge of investigating the case filed under Money Laundering Prevention Act and the ICT Act.

About $15 million of the stolen reserves that made it to Manila-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp was returned to Bangladesh, and efforts to recover the rest are continuing.

The high-profile theft raised questions globally about the efficiency of systems to secure transaction between banks.

A probe panel formed by the Bangladesh Bank, headed by former governor Mohammed Farashuddin, submitted its report to the finance ministry on May 30 last year.

But Finance Minister AMA Muhith did not release the committee's findings despite repeated pledges to do so.