A Criminal Investigation Department (CID) official has claimed to have got ‘significant’ information concerning the cyber theft of Bangladesh Bank funds.
The official, requesting anonymity, told bdnews24.com on Monday that the tip had been sent to a Bangladesh ambassador abroad for verification. He did not wish to disclose more in the interest of the investigation.
CID Special Superintendent Mirza Abdullah Hel Baki said the investigators were picking up nuggets of information as the probe progressed. “We are checking whatever we’ve got until now,” he said.
Additional Deputy Inspector General Shah Alam said the investigators were optimistic of a breakthrough.
He said the probe was being conducted in coordination with the US, Philippines and Sri Lanka.
In early February, hackers transferred $81 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to and beyond the Philippines. Transfer of only $20 million to Sri Lanka was stopped. CID were tasked with the investigation 40 days after the heist following the resignation of central bank chief Atiur Rahman under immense pressure. Additional DIG Alam said they were taking help of US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Interpol to investigate the biggest cyber theft in banking history. Interpol’s Bangladesh chapter National Central Bureau (NCB) official Rafiqul Islam Gani said his agency was coordinating between the CID and Interpol.
CID officials went to the Bangladesh Bank to speak to the officials and gather evidence on Monday like the past few days. “No gains can be made by panicking everyone in the Bangladesh Bank. We are doing our job by being nice with everyone,” a CID official said, who declined to be named.
The government has formed a committee, headed by former Bangladesh Bank governor Mohammed Farashuddin, to investigate the theft. The panel has decided not to talk to the media for a month.
