BB heist: Bangladesh claims fined money from Philippines

Bangladesh has claimed $20 million fined by the Philippines' central bank for the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation's (RCBC) failure to prevent the movement of the stolen money from Bangladesh Bank's reserve.

The demand was made on Tuesday during a foreign secretary level meeting between the two countries, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen told reporters.

Dhaka sought an amicable solution to the heist issue through talks with Manila, said Masud who led the Bangladesh side in the meeting held in the state guest house Meghna in Dhaka.

Menardo Elvy Montilegory, a secretary level official, led the Philippines.

"We discussed the theft of Bangladesh Bank's reserve money. We asked for financial information and the identity of the persons involved in the heist," said Masud. 

Hackers stole $101 m from BB's accounts with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on February 4, 2016.

Of the amount, $81 million was transferred to four accounts with RCBC in Manila and another $20 million to a bank in Sri Lanka.

But the transfer of $20 million to Sri Lanka failed because of a spelling error by the hackers. Later, the BB was able to retrieve about $15 million from the Philippines.

Last year, the central bank of the Philippines fined the RCBC record one billion pesos ($20 million) for it failed to stop movement of the stolen money.