BB likely to get back more $30m of heist money

Bangladesh Bank is expected to get back more US$30 million heisted reserved from the Philippines soon.

‘Bangladesh has already received approximately $15.25 million from the Philippines. We are making all sorts of efforts to recover the whole money. ‘We are expecting to get back more $30 million which now remains confiscated,’ said BB’s Deputy Governor Abu Hena Mohd. Razee Hassan told a news briefing on Sunday.

He also said a delegation, which be led by Law. Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq, will go to the Philippine this month and hoped the process of recovering the reserve heist money will be accelerated further, reports BSS.

With the US$15.25 million, the total recovered amount has stood at $35.25 million. Earlier, BB brought back $20 million from Sri Lanka.

On November 7, a BB delegation headed by Debaprosad Debnath, general manager of the bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit, went to Manila to work on moving back the $15.25 million.

In October, BB filed an ‘execution suit’ with the authorities in Manila to send back the recovered $15.25 million.

The Manila court cleared the ‘execution suit’ and asked the authority concerned to complete the whole procedures of sending back the money within the next 30.

In September, the Philippines National Capital Judicial Region asked the country’s central bank-the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to send back the money as it adjudged that Bangladesh Bank was the rightful owner of around $15.25 million surrendered by casino boss Kim Wong and his Eastern Hawaii Leisure Company.

The money kept in the vault of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is released in favour of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh,’ an official of Bangladesh Bank said while reading the court order to BSS.

On August 26, the Department of Justice of Philippines applied to a court there under Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) Request sent by Bangladesh to complete the formalities of returning US$15.25 million.

BB sent affidavit and other necessary documents to the offices concerned of the Philippines for applying to a court of the Philippines within a scheduled time from August 16 to 30 to bring back the money.

BB maintained constantly contact with the Department of Justice and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) of the Philippines. Besides, other related documents were supplied from BB to send to Bangladesh embassy in the Philippines through diplomatic channel.

Hackers stole a total $101 million from Bangladesh’s account at the New York Fed in February. Of the amount, $81 million was transferred to four accounts at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in Manila and another $20 million to a bank in Sri Lanka. But the transfer of $20 million to Sri Lanka was failed because of a spelling error by the hackers.