BB to sue Manila-based RCBC

Bangladesh Bank has decided to sue the Manila-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation against its role in stealing $81 million from the BB's account at the New York Fed more than two years ago.

“We’ll file a case against RCBC in two to three months,” Abu Hena Mohd Razee Hassan, a deputy governor of the central bank, told reporters at a briefing at the BB headquarters today.

Abu Hena also said they have already sent a proposal to SWIFT and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in this regard, but yet to get any response.

“If SWIFT and Federal Reserve Bank do not join us, we will go ahead with the case,” Abu Hena added.

Also read: BB still waits to get back $66m in stolen money

Meanwhile, Finance Minister AMA Muhith told reporters that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York known as New York Fed and the BB will file the case.

He was talking the journalists after a meeting with the purchase committee at the cabinet division in Dhaka this afternoon.

Unidentified hackers stole $81 million from BB's account at the New York Fed in February 2016, using fraudulent orders on the SWIFT payments system. Later, the money was sent to accounts at the RCBC and then went into the casinos in the Philippines.

Bangladesh has not been able to bring back the major chunk of the $81 million wired to the Philippines from BB's account with the New York Fed.

Also, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is yet to complete its investigation into the transnational crime, one of the world's biggest cyber thefts ever reported.

As part of the probe, the CID sought information from several countries about the suspects, but only the Philippines has responded so far.