A Philippine bank has filed a lawsuit accusing Bangladesh's central bank of defamation, hitting back at what it says are baseless claims of its complicity in the world's biggest cyber heist, reports Reuters.
In February 2016, criminals used fraudulent orders on the SWIFT payments system to steal $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The money was sent to accounts at Manila-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) and then vanished into the casino industry in the Philippines.
RCBC said its reputation had come under a sustained "vicious and public attack" by Bangladesh Bank. It is seeking at least 100 million pesos ($1.9 million) in damages.
"Bangladesh Bank has embarked on a massive ploy and scheme to extort money from plaintiff RCBC by resorting to public defamation, harassment and threats geared towards destroying RCBC's good name, reputation, and image," it said in a statement on Tuesday, citing the civil court filing on March 6.
It said the motive was to get RCBC to return money it neither had, nor owed.
Bangladesh Bank declined to comment.
The lawsuit is the latest in a slew of barbs and blame-trading between the two banks.
Last month, the Federal Reserve said it had agreed to help Bangladesh as it sues to recoup losses from the heist, offering "technical assistance". SWIFT also agreed to help the bank rebuild its infrastructure after the breach.
Bangladesh Bank filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Manhattan earlier this year, accusing RCBC of involvement in a massive conspiracy to steal its money. A hunt for the culprits has made little progress and Bangladesh Bank has managed to get back roughly $15 million, mostly from a Manila gaming junket operator.
In the first conviction in the case, a Philippine court in January found a former RCBC bank branch manager, Maia Deguito, guilty on eight counts of money laundering.
Deguito was sentenced to between 32 years and 56 years in jail, and was ordered to pay a total fine of about $109 million, although she remains free on bail pending appeal.
Another report by Manila based inquirer.net added the suit was served to Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hasan, Deputy Governor and Head of Bangladesh Bank Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and the other members of Bangladesh Bank delegation that arrived in the Philippines this week for meetings with banking officials.
Tai-Heng Cheng, RCBC's lead lawyer and a partner at the New York office of law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP said: "Bangladesh Bank claims are baseless and have harmed RCBC's reputation as one of the best banks in the Philippines. Bangladesh's suit is nothing more than a political stunt to try to shift blame from themselves to RCBC. The action taken by RCBC finally puts the case in a court where - at the very least - the alleged crime took place."
RCBC's lawsuit pointed out Bangladesh's failures to secure its network and disclose those failings on a timely basis
The complaint also refuted Bangladesh Bank's allegation that RCBC had played a premeditated role in the cyber theft.
"Bangladesh Bank had lost the $81 Million the minute it left defendant Bangladesh Bank's account at the NY Fed and way before it had even reached the Philippines there is absolutely no act attributable to RCBC that caused the payment instructions to reach the NY Fed and the Correspondent Banks," the complaint said.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
