23 foreign citizens involved in BB heist: CID

MNA Business Desk: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police on Saturday claimed that they have found the involvement of 23 foreigners in the $ 101-million cyber heist from Bangladesh Bank’s account with the US Federal Reserve Bank.

The foreigners collected the heist money from the Philippines casino and handed over to the mastermind.He, however, did not disclose the names of the countries.

“Apparently, the mastermind of the heist collected the transferred money though Philippines casino and cashed out the sum using 23 field operatives,” Additional Deputy Inspector General Shah Alam of CID (Organised Crime) told reporters.

“We are trying to know the identity of mastermind by interrogating these people through the intelligence departments of the concern countries, he said.

In February 2016, instructions to steal US$951 million from Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh, were issued via the SWIFT network.

Five transactions issued by hackers, worth $101 million and withdrawn from a Bangladesh Bank account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, succeeded, with $20 million traced to Sri Lanka (since recovered) and $81 million to the Philippines (about $18 million recovered).

The Federal Reserve Bank of NY blocked the remaining thirty transactions, amounting to $850 million, at the request of Bangladesh Bank.