Bangladesh seeks $63 million from Philippine bank used in cyber heist

Officials from the Bangladeshi central bank, which lost $81 million to cyber thieves, are traveling to Manila this week in hope of replacing the missing money, according to reports.

Reuters says the Bangladesh Bank is looking for $63 million still unrecovered after the high-tech burglary.

{mosads}The theft took place in early February, when hackers commandeered the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication to request large transfers from the Bangladesh Bank’s account at the New York Federal Reserve.

The money traveled to the Philippine Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and was likely funneled through local casinos, officials said.

The RCBC put a hold on the account used in the heist when it found an initial withdrawal of more than $20 million suspicious. But, soon afterward, the bank lifted the hold, allowing more money to be withdrawn. 

“RCBC did not perform its role properly,” Bangladesh Bank spokesman Subhankar Saha told Reuters. “RCBC is similarly liable as those parties who took money in their accounts.”