Bangladesh Bank sends team to New York to file lawsuit over cyber heist

Bangladesh Bank has sent a team to the US to file a lawsuit over the $81 million cyber heist from the central bank’s reserves kept in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The delegation includes Debaprasad Debnath, a general manager at the central bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit, its Joint Director Mohammad Abdur Rab and Account and Budgeting Department General Manager Zakir Hossain.

They left Dhaka for New York Sunday night, Bangladesh Bank spokesman Serajul Islam told bdnews24.com on Tuesday.

Ajmalul Hossain QC, a lawyer for the central bank, joined them from London to help file the lawsuit, he added.

A US legal firm appointed by the central bank will file the civil suit in the District Court for the Southern District of New York by Jan 31.

Bangladesh aims to get back the stolen money and bring the accused to justice.

The key accused of the case will be the Philippines’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation or RCBC and some of its officials. Other accused will include Philrem Service Corporation, casino owners and beneficiaries, Bangladesh Bank officials said.

The central bank officials will also sign an agreement with the New York Federal Reserve to assist in the case.

The Bangladesh Bank lost $81 million to the heist in February 2016. The funds were transferred to the Philippines and beyond using Philrem and a branch of the RCBC.

RCBC was fined a record 1 billion pesos ($19.17 million) by the Philippine central bank in August 2016 for its failure to prevent the movement of the stolen money through the bank.

A former treasurer of RCBC and five other workers at the branch where the cash was withdrawn face money laundering charges.

On Jan 11 this year, a Philippine court held a former manager of a RCBC branch guilty on eight counts of money laundering, the first conviction in the cyber heist.

Just $15 million of the stolen money has been recovered from a Manila junket operator, a role that involves marketing casinos to VIPs.