$81m seized from RCBC in Bangladesh Bank reserve heist

Authorities have confiscated USD 81 million from Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in the Philippines in connection with the 2016 cyber heist of Bangladesh Bank’s foreign reserves, police officials confirmed Sunday (September 21).

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said the seizure was executed through a court order as part of the ongoing legal proceedings into the reserve theft case.

“This is a significant step toward recovering the stolen funds,” said CID Special Superintendent Jashim Uddin Khan, who confirmed the development.

Meanwhile, a Dhaka court set 29 September for the submission of a probe report in the case lodged over the Bangladesh Bank (BB) reserve heist that took place in 2016.

According to the case documents, unidentified hackers stole $101 million from BB's accounts with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in February 2016.

Of the amount, $81 million was transferred to four accounts with RCBC in the Philippines and another $20 million to a bank in Sri Lanka.

However, the transfer of $20 million to Sri Lanka failed because of a spelling error by the hackers. Later, the BB was able to retrieve about $15 million from the Philippines.

Bangladesh Bank Deputy Director (accounts and budgeting) Zobayer Bin Huda filed the case with Motijheel Police Station on 15 March 2016.