Sagar Biswas :
Despite repeated directives, the Bangladesh Bank authorities on Tuesday failed to submit the investigation report over reserve heist before the Parliamentary Standing Committee. The report was prepared by a three-member team led by former central bank governor Dr Mohammed Farashuddin.
Earlier on August 17, the Parliamentary standing Committee on Public Undertaking took the decision to sit in a closed door meeting with the central bank’s top brass apparently to discuss the findings of the investigation report. In accordance with the minutes, the BB was asked to attend yesterday’s meeting with the probe report.
But significantly, the central bank governor Fazle Kabir did not attend the meeting. Instead, the BB team was headed by Deputy Governor Abu Hena Md Razi Hassan. Explaining the reason for not placing the report, the BB deputy governor told the meeting that it was with the Finance Ministry. The ministry did not give it to the BB till the date, the meeting sources said.
The Deputy Governor, however, promised to submit the probe report before the JS body whenever he would get it, the sources added. Presided over by Chairman of Committee Colonel [retd] Shawkat Ali, the meeting was also attended by Nurul Majid Mamun Humayun, Muhibur Rahman Manik, among others. Besides, senior officials of concerned ministries and divisions were present.
“We had earlier taken decision to sit in a closed door meeting to discuss the report. So, we called the meeting on Tuesday. But they [BB] did not bring the report. They said that the Finance Ministry did not give them the report,” Colonel Shawkat Ali, chairman of the committee, told The New Nation last night.
“We’re going to call the concerned BB officials again soon…The meeting will be held next month,” the chairman said, adding, “We’ve asked them [BB] to ensure discipline in the economic and finance sectors. We have recommended the BB to resolve the audit objections through bilateral or tripartite meetings as soon as possible.”
The annoyed JS body took the tough decision to scrutinize the investigation report when the Finance Ministry has been showing dilly-dally attitude about making the report public.
The investigation report was handed over to Finance Minister AMA Muhith on May 30. The minister at the time had said that the report would be made public after going through it, but it never saw the day light. The head of investigation team had hinted about the involvement of central bank insiders in the report.
Against the backdrop of cyber heist, the BB authorities, informed the meeting that a befitting IT security plan, titled ‘Remediation Plan’, has been taken with the cooperation of experts of Bangladesh Computer Council, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Ahsanullah Science and Technology University, IT Governance of BB and Risk Management Specialist [international consultant]. The ‘Remediation Plan’ will be materialized with highest priority after getting approval from BB Board of Directors.
In this situation, the JS body asked the BB authorities to speeding up the process to bring back the heist money from Philippines.
Earlier, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance Ministry in its meeting on August 11 also expressed severe dissatisfaction over the issue. The finance committee had proposed the government to send a delegation to the Philippines to discuss the matter in the political circle to make a way to bring back the money to Bangladesh.
Not only that, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts also expressed its discontent over the BB heist earlier in a meeting in May. At the same time, the JS body recommended the government to punish the officials who are responsible for the incident. The JS body also wanted to know the exact role of SWIFT, Federal Reserve Bank and Rizal Bank of Philippines in the incident.
A gang of highly-skilled hackers tried to swindle $1 billion from BB accounts with Federal Reserve Bank of New York applying forged commands through Swift Messaging system, which was the biggest bank heist in the country’s history.
Using five messages the hackers ultimately managed to drain off $81 million to an account in the Philippines and $20 million were sent to Sri Lanka by another command. The Sri Lankan transfer was stopped luckily, but the Philippines transfer was clicked. After conversion into the local currency, the money finally made its way to casinos, which is not yet recovered despite repeated attempts.
