$34.63m BB stolen money recovered: FM

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Tuesday said the government has so far recovered US$ 34.63 million against the US$ 101 million stolen reserve money of Bangladesh Bank, reports BSS.

"Around US$ 20 million which were first sent to Sri Lanka returned to Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) in New York. On the other hand, US$ 14.63 million sent to the Philippines were deposited to the Bangladesh Bank account of the FRB, New York," he said replying to a query from Mohammad Abdullah (Lakhkhipur-4) in the house.

The minister, however, told the parliament that the rest of US$ 66.37 million reserve is to be recovered.

Muhith said all the agencies including Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), Finance Ministry, Attorney General Office, Foreign Ministry, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police are jointly working for recovering the stolen sent to the Philippines.

Even the Attorney General Office under the Palermo Convention has sent a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) request to the Department of Justice in Philippines which is extending cooperation to recover the rest amount of the theft money, the minister added.

In addition to this, he said, different authorities in Philippines have taken legal steps against the people and organizations concerned about the incident of stealing money from the Bangladesh Bank.

"Legal steps are underway in Philippines for recovering the rest of the stolen money," Muhith said.