The Bangladesh central bank lost $100 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, believed to be a result of a hacking activity by an unidentified group or individual. The central bank puts the blame on the Fed for a lack of security, making it possible for hackers to break into the system and stole the money. The New York Fed, on the other hand, claimed that there is no evidence of any attempt of hacking to its system.
According to Business Standard, some of the money was illegally transferred online to the Philippines and Sri Lanka. After the money was discharged into the Philippine banking system, it was then transferred to at least three local casinos, after it was sold to a black market foreign exchange broker first.
The Bangladesh Bank stated that it is working to recover as much of the $100 million as they can. The bank said in a statement that Part of the money hacked from its account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been recovered. "Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit is in contact with the anti-money laundering authorities of the Philippines to track down and bring back the rest of the money," the bank stated. The central bank refused to reveal how much money were able to be retrieved back.
ABCNews reported that Bangladesh authorities are considering suing the Fed over the lost of money. The information was revealed by Bangladesh Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith, emphasizing that the U.S. bank has no way to avoid their responsibility.
However, the New York Fed said in a statement that it had not detected any hacking attempts, and there is no evidence that any of their systems was compromised, stating that the instructions made for the transfer from the bank account to the Philippines were fully authenticated and in accordance with standard protocols.
In total, the Bangladesh central bank has $28 billion in currency reserves, kept in the New York Fed. The Fed holds more than 250 foreign accounts of central banks and governments. The New York Post noted that the Fed has been hacked before in 2014 when a British citizen was accused of breaching its servers and posting private data.
The lost money from the Bangladesh central bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been tracked to at least three large casinos in the Philippines. The bank is determined to retrieve back as much as it can of the $100 million, helped by Philippines authorities and the Fed.
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