Five-year investigation into Bangladesh Bank heist

We all remember the sensational USD 81 million heist from Bangladesh Bank reserves with the New York Fed that occurred five years ago. According to a report by this daily, investigations have revealed that criminals from at least six countries, including Bangladesh, were involved in what is now known as the biggest-ever cyber heist in history.

An anonymous CID source has identified the people who directly took part in the heist as being from the Philippines, China, Sri Lanka and Japan, along with the involvement of Bangladeshi and Indian nationals working at financial institutions. According to the Bangladesh police, while the probe into the theft is at its final stage, the lawsuit over recovery of the stolen money is still pending with a US court.

While we are pleased to hear that the investigation is coming to a close, we are also aware that this is only the beginning—the charge sheet in the case of Bangladesh will be submitted after the US settlement. The amount that has been stolen is no small matter, especially for a developing country like Bangladesh, and we hope the funds will be returned to us soon.

It is now absolutely crucial that the authorities do everything they can to apprehend the Bangladeshis involved with this heist. CID sources have said that six to seven officials of Bangladesh Bank will be named in the charge sheet. It is hugely embarrassing, but also not wholly unexpected, to see the potential involvement of our government officials with a crime of this scale. How can the country's financial institutions function properly and transparently if our central bank is so obviously vulnerable to being robbed, that too with the help of its own corrupt officials? 

The government must ensure that proportionate punishment is meted out to those involved, including the top-level officials who clearly failed to fulfil their responsibilities at the time by allowing such a crime to be committed under their watch. The authorities must also implement systems of accountability to ensure that such crimes are not repeated. Our nation's finances should not be in the hands of people in whom we cannot place our trust. Additionally, there is an urgent need to update the security of Bangladesh Bank to ensure that such breaches do not occur again.