Return the cyber heist money
The much-talked about Bangladesh Bank (BB) cyber heist of USD 81 million entered a new twist as Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) of the Philippines has stated that there is no need for it to return USD 2.7 million as it was "negligence" on the part of BB that led to the heist in the first place. We find this rationale to be flawed because RCBC cannot evade responsibility of some of its staff of being involved in the crime. Indeed, the Philippine anti-laundering body has charged five RCBC staff in this connection. As the RCBC has admitted complicity by paying a fine, there is no reason for the money not to be returned to Bangladesh.
In the immediate aftermath of the heist we were informed by the finance minister that the inquiry into the matter would be made public. That the findings never made public brings us to the question as to why this was so. We have left ourselves wide open to accusations from RCBC that it was our sloppiness that led to such a massive heist in the first place.
We believe RCBC has no grounds to hold on to money that belongs to Bangladesh and the grounds for "negligence" there was on the Bangladesh side can only be unearthed when the probe committee findings are made public. Sweeping the whole proceedings under the carpet has not helped matters. It is high time the truth was revealed and the matter settled for the sake of financial transparency and bringing those responsible to justice.
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