Bangladesh Bank is considering to file a case against the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over the digital heist of $101 million from its foreign reserve account.
Senior lawyer Ajmalul Hossain QC has been appointed to take necessary initiative in this regard, a senior executive of the central bank said yesterday.
“Ajmalul has been appointed to review the legal aspects,” said Subhankar Saha, executive director of Bangladesh Bank, adding that they were yet to decide on filing of the case.
“They [New York Fed] cannot avoid responsibility for the largest digital heist in Bangladesh Bank’s history,” said another senior executive of the central bank.
On February 4, hackers stole $101m from Bangladesh Bank’s account with the New York Fed and wired it to a number of bank accounts in the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
After the matter came into light earlier this month, Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman resigned while the government also reshuffled key posts of the bank.
The central bank filed a case against unnamed persons on March 15 under section 4 of the Money Laundering Prevention Act 2012 (amended 2015), section 54 of the Information Technology Act 2006 and section 379 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.