THE new governor at Bangladesh Bank Fazle Kabir has rightly placed priority on the retrieval of the US$81 million which was stolen from our Reserve last month. He stated this while speaking to the media on Monday. The question remains, however, how will this be done?
The first step will be to identify those involved in the heist, both within and outside the country. The bank heist has shocked the entire nation and safety of the government Reserves must be top on the priority along with recovery of the stolen money.
Philippine government’s probe has revealed into which bank accounts the money had been deposited and how this was converted into local currency. There are many on the list of suspects. But it is still unclear how the money was siphoned off from the Bangladesh Bank and who are those involved in the scam. What the Bank management did to protect the Reserves and how hackers got away with the money.
The three-member inquiry committee led by former Bangladesh Bank governor Mohammed Farashuddin has begun investigating the matter saying it will be a tough job but it has to be done in the interests of the country. The CID has also taken up investigations and FBI assistance may be sought if required.
Governor Fazle Kabir’s plan to restore confidence of bank officials and rectify technical glitches in the banking system appears to be the right priority at the moment. Skilled manpower and use of safety technology must come hand in hand. for developing a foolproof security system in the bank.
Ensuring both will not be too difficult – at least for the second. With the Reserves growing adequate IT infrastructure with foolproof security is essential so that no such break can occur again. Getting the money back from the Philippines may prove more challenging. However these are short-term goals which can be easily dealt with.
The far more pressing long-term goal is of course, to stem the rot of the government owned banks to ensure proper and efficient governance. To ensure this the main agents of the scams of the past – namely the Hallmark scam and the BASIC Bank scam, must be brought to book. This is essential to ensure that such actions do not ever occur again.
