| Bangladesh
Central Bank Says SDNY Hack
Suit Assisted By Federal
Reserve Hearing In Six Months
By Matthew
Russell Lee
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, February 3 – The
Bangladeshi Central Bank which
was hacked for $81 million in
February 2016, on January 31
sued in the US District Court
for the Southern District of
New York. The case is
Bangladesh Bank v Rizal
Commercial Banking Corp et al,
U.S. District Court, Southern
District of New York, No.
19-00983. On February 3 in
Dhaka Bangladesh Bank's
lawyer Ajmalul
Hossain
said it could take three years
to recover the money. The
Bank's deputy governor Abu
Hena Razee Hasan said those
being accused -- in the civil
not criminal suit -- include
three Chinese nationals.
Ajmalul Hossain said the Bank
is seeking its hacked million
plus interest and its expenses
in the case. He said US
Federal Reserve will extend
its full support and that
SWIFT, the international money
transfer network, also assured
of providing all the necessary
cooperation in recovering the
hacked money. The
Philippines returned $14.54
million in November 2016, so
$66.46 million has yet to be
retrieved. Now defendant RCBC
Bank of the Philippines has
hired the Quinn Emanuel law
firm to defend it, and it
already fighting back in
words. RCBC’s lead counsel on
the SDNY case, Tai-Heng Cheng,
said: “This is nothing
more than a thinly veiled PR
campaign disguised as a
lawsuit. Based on what we have
heard this suit is completely
baseless. If the Bank of
Bangladesh was serious about
recovering the money, they
would have pursued their
claims three years ago and not
wait until days before the
statute of limitations. Not
only are the allegations
false, they don’t have the
right to file here since none
of the defendants are in the
US." But it seems the funds
were transferred to and
through the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York. And as Inner
City Press reported in the US
v. Patrick Ho case last year,
the wiring of funds through
New York can confer
jurisdiction. Inner City Press
will be covering this case.
The first paragraph of the 103
page complaint reads, "This
litigation involves a massive,
multi-year conspiracy to carry
out one of the largest banks
heists in modern history right
here in New York City. On
February 4, 2016, thieves
reached into a bank account at
the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York (“New York Fed”) and
stole approximately $101
million (out of the nearly $1
billion they attempted to
steal). The bank account was
held for the benefit of
Bangladesh Bank, which is
Bangladesh’s Central Bank.
Bangladesh Bank has had a
45-year banking relationship
under which it has placed its
international reserves with
the New York Fed. The New York
Fed is a critical component of
the United States’ central
banking system and its link to
the international financial
system." Bangladesh's lawyers
on the case are "COZEN
O’CONNOR John J. Sullivan,
Esq. Jesse Loffler, Esq.
Yehudah Gordon, Esq." We'll
have more on this.
Debaprasad
Debnath, a general manager at
the central bank’s Financial
Intelligence Unit, Joint
Director Mohammad Abdur Rab
and Account and Budgeting
Department General Manager
Zakir Hossain all left Dhaka
to head to New York, for the
filing of the lawsuit, which
Inner City Press will be
following.
They say the
Federal Reserve Bank of New
York, which on January 29 was
instructed by the US State
Department to allow Juan
Guaido to access Venezuelan
accounts, will be helping its
Bangladeshi counterpart to get
to the bottom of the
hack. Those eyed include
Philippines’ Rizal Commercial
Banking Corporation or RCBC
and some of its officials, and
Philrem Service Corporation,
casino owners and
beneficiaries. Ajmalul Hossain
QC, a lawyer for the central
bank, is with them to file the
case.
It is an
interesting twist on the SDNY
as venue for the money
laundering and FCPA
prosecution of Patrick Ho of
CEFC for bribery in Chad and
to Uganda - in this case, too,
the money flowed through New
York. Inner City Press intends
to cover the case.
***
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