Bangladeshi CID finds 20 foreigners' link in reserve heist

Bangladesh's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said on Monday it has found at least 20 foreigners' link in theft of 101 million U.S. dollars from Bangladesh Bank's account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

CID Additional Deputy Inspector General Shah Alam at a press conference at the CID headquarters in Dhaka revealed this but did not elaborate on the foreigners' involvement for the"sake of investigation."

He said CID investigators have recently visited Sri Lanka and Philippines for the investigations.

"We've come to know about the names of the foreigners during the recent visit to the countries," Alam said.

He also expressed his reluctance to tell immediately whether any Bangladeshis were involved in the reserve heist.

Some 101 million U.S. dollars worth of foreign reserves of the Bangladesh Bank, deposited with the U.S. central bank, was on Feb. 5 stolen by a racket of hackers.

And the money was transferred to Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

Some 20 million U.S. dollars of the total stolen money has so far been recovered. Endit