Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., the ninth-largest lender in terms of assets, is mulling over a legal action against officials of Bangladesh’s central bank for alleged “continuous coverup” in connection with the $81-million cyber heist in 2016.
RCBC said in a statement it would not back down from the earlier threat of Bangladesh Bank to sue the Philippine bank for its involvement in the cyber heist.
Bangladesh Bank said it would file a lawsuit in New York against RCBC over the world’s largest cyber heist, its finance minister said Wednesday.
Unidentified hackers stole $81 million in February 2016 from the Bangladesh Bank’s account with the US Federal Reserve in New York. The money was transferred to a Manila branch of RCBC, then quickly withdrawn and laundered through local casinos.
With only a small amount of the stolen money recovered and frustration growing in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith said last year he wanted to “wipe out” RCBC.
RCBC said in response that it “has had it and will consider a lawsuit against Bangladesh Central Bank officials for claiming the bank had a hand in the $81-million cyber heist two years ago.”
“We will not allow them to continue to malign RCBC. Various reports, including their own, indicate an inside job. BB and Dhaka officials refuse to release their findings to hide from the Bangladeshi public what could very well be the involvement of its own officials who may have helped loot their money deposited with the New York Federal Reserve,” RCBC said.
The bank said Bangladesh Central Bank officials were perpetuating the cover-up and using RCBC as a “scapegoat” to keep their people in the dark.
“If they sue, RCBC is ready and prepared. The first thing we will ask is for BB and Dhaka to submit to court their findings. If they refuse, they will immediately suffer from comparison since RCBC willingly shared information to the extent allowed by law,” it said.
It said Bangladesh Central Bank officials should be suing their own and the criminal elements from within instead of suing RCBC.
“Again, why is BB not going against those who have been identified as having possession of the remaining money? There is none left in RCBC. It is time for BB and Dhaka to come clean and give its people answers,” RCBC said.
The deputy central bank governor Razee Hassan told AFP the case would be filed in April. “They [RCBC] are the main accused,” he said.
“Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. and its various officials are involved in money heist from Bangladesh Bank’s reserve account and the bank is liable in this regard,” Hassan said in a written statement.
The Philippines in 2016 imposed a record $21 million fine on RCBC after investigating its role in the audacious cyber heist.
Philippine authorities have also filed money-laundering charges against the RCBC branch manager.
The bank has rejected the allegations and last year accused Bangladesh’s central bank of a “massive cover-up”.
The hackers bombarded the US Federal Reserve with dozens of transfer requests, attempting to steal a further $850 million.
But the bank’s security systems and typing errors in some requests prevented the full theft.
The hack took place on a Friday, when Bangladesh Bank is closed. The Federal Reserve Bank in New York is closed on Saturday and Sunday, slowing the response.
The US reserve bank, which manages the Bangladesh Bank reserve account, has denied its own systems were breached.
The Philippine government in November 2016 handed over $15 million of the stolen funds to Bangladeshi officials.
A Philippine court in September 2016 ruled that Bangladesh Bank was the rightful owner of around $15 million surrendered by casino boss Kim Wong and his Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co.