Bangladesh Bank is working seriously to file a lawsuit for damages over the 2016 reserve heist, said Finance Minister AMA Muhith.

“We have discussed with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Philipines Rizal Commercial Bank (RCBC). We have a deadline until Jan 15, 2019 to file the lawsuit over the cyber heist,  So the central bank is working very seriously in this regard,” he told the media on Wednesday (Dec 5) at the Secretariat.

“NY Fed and RCBC’s cooperation is needed to file the lawsuit over the heist,” added Muhith

He also said that NY Fed and RCBC will be made defendants in the case.

On Feb 4, 2016, hackers stole $81 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the New York Fed, using fraudulent orders on the SWIFT payments system.

The fund was sent to Manila-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) and then disappeared into the casino industry in the Philippines.

Bangladesh has been able to retrieve only about $15 million, mostly from a casino junket operator.

Another $17 million has been traced to money remittance company Philrem. The Anti-Money Laundering Council in the Philippines has confiscated the fund and a lawsuit is ongoing.

A further $29 million has been traced to Casino Solaire, now frozen by the Philippines court in a pending case. The remaining $14 million is yet to be traced.