OFFICIALS of Bangladesh Bank may have been involved in a brazen theft of $81 million (£55m) from its account with the New York Federal Reserve Bank in February, the head of a government-appointed panel investigating the cyber heist told reporters on Monday (30).
Hackers broke into the computer systems of the Bangladesh central bank and issued instructions through the SWIFT network to transfer $951m (£560m) of its deposits held at the New York Federal Reserve Bank to accounts in the Philip- pines and Sri Lanka.
Most of the transactions were blocked but four, amounting to $81m, went through, sparking allegations by Bangladeshi officials that both the Fed and SWIFT had failed to detect the fraud.
“Earlier we thought no one from Bangladesh Bank was involved, but now there is a small change,” Mohammed Farashuddin, a former governor of the Bangladesh central bank said, after handing his final report to the finance minister.
He declined to say what the change was, and also did not provide details of the report, but said its findings were different from a previous one that mainly held SWIFT, the international banking payments network, responsible for one of the world’s biggest cyber thefts.
Farashuddin has earlier said SWIFT made a number of mistakes in connecting up a local network in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. SWIFT has denied the accusations.
Bangladesh Bank spokesman Subhankar Saha added that its officials had yet to read the report or receive government instructions on the subject.
Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in northwest of London, in July 2024. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Crossbow murderer found guilty of raping ex-girlfriend
A 26-YEAR-OLD man who murdered three women in a crossbow and stabbing attack has been found guilty of raping one of them, his ex-girlfriend, a British court ruled on Thursday.
Kyle Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in Bushey, northwest of London, in July 2024.
The attack led to a manhunt before Clifford was found injured hours later in a north London cemetery.
A jury at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday convicted Clifford of raping 25-year-old Louise Hunt before killing her.
His sentencing for all the crimes is scheduled for Tuesday.
Clifford had admitted to murdering Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Louise and Hannah, 28. He had also pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment and possessing offensive weapons but denied raping Louise.
During the trial, the court heard that after killing Carol Hunt, Clifford waited for an hour before attacking Louise, tying her up, raping her, and then killing her with a crossbow. He later killed Hannah when she returned home from work.
The prosecution described Clifford, a former soldier, as committing a "violent, sexual act of spite" and said he was "enraged" after Louise ended their 18-month relationship. They told the court that he had "carefully planned" the attack.
Less than 24 hours before the killings, Clifford had searched for a podcast by social media influencer Andrew Tate, according to the prosecution. They argued that the murders were driven by the "violent misogyny promoted" by Tate.
Justice Joel Bennathan called Clifford’s crimes "dreadful" and "almost unspeakable".
(With inputs from AFP)