Two BB officials head for Manila

Two officials of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) left home for Manila Saturday night to help the Bangladesh ambassador to the Philippines in recovering the $81 million stolen from its New York Reserve Bank account through a cyber heist.
On the other hand, a three-member Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team is scheduled to leave the capital for Manila Monday in this connection.
Two teams are set to attend the fourth hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on Tuesday, according to the officials.
The BB officials will stay in Manila for one week for providing different supports to the ambassador for expediting the overall recovery process of the stolen money from the Philippines, according to a BB official.
Currently, the central bank is maintaining close contact with Bangladesh Ambassador to the Philippines Major General (retired) John Gomes for getting up-to-date information about the money-recovery process taken by the Philippines authorities concerned.
"We're now exchanging information relating to the cyber heist with its counterparts in the Philippines for recovering the stolen fund," the BB official said without elaborating.
Talking to the FE, a senior CID official said: "Our team will try to identify perpetrators of the digital crimes."
The CID team is likely to stay in the Philippines for more than a week for investigation, the official added.
The cyber fraud took place on the night of February 4, sending a total of 35 transfer orders into the US Federal Reserve Bank in New York where the BB maintains a foreign exchange account.
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