RCBC threatens to sue BB officials over $81m heist

MNA Business Desk: A day after Bangladesh confirmed that it would sue a Philippines bank in US for damages over the 2016 cyber heist, Manila-based Rizal Commercial Bank Corp or RCBC has threatened counter measures.

In a media statement on Thursday, RCBC said it was considering legal actions against Bangladesh Bank officials, reports The Philippine Daily Inquirer.

It alleged Dhaka officials of maligning the bank and using it as a “scapegoat” over one of the world’s biggest cyber heists.

The Bangladesh Bank said it has decided to start a lawsuit in New York against RCBC over its role in the reserve theft.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and SWIFT will be parties to the lawsuit, said Deputy Governor Abu Hena Mohd Razee Hassan told the media in Dhaka.

RCBC, which had earlier accused Bangladesh Bank or BB of covering up its own negligence, said in Thursday’s statement that they will not allow any further efforts to ‘malign’ them.

“RCBC has had it and will consider a lawsuit against Bangladesh Central Bank (BB) officials for claiming the bank had a hand in the $81M cyberheist two years ago,” the Daily Inquirer report said quoting the bank’s statement.

The bank, which had been slapped a $20-million fine by Philippines authorities, claimed that various probe reports, including the one conducted by Bangladesh, “indicate an inside job.”

“BB and Dhaka officials refuse to release their findings to hide from the Bangladeshi public what could very well be the involvement of its own officials who may have helped loot their money deposited with the New York Federal Reserve,” the statement reads.

Accusing BB of ‘perpetuating the cover up’, RCBC said they were being used as a scapegoat “to keep their people in dark.”