Hackers break into NY Fed and steal from Bangladesh central bank
Bangladesh's central bank reported on Monday its account at the U.S. Federal Reserve had been hacked and money was stolen, but that some of the funds were traced to the Philippines and recovered, reports Reuters.
The New York Fed, which manages the account, denied that its systems were breached but did not say whether funds had been drained from the account, citing confidentiality.
Yet AFP reported that the amount lost was around $100 million. "Some of the money was then illegally transferred online to the Philippines and Sri Lanka, a central bank official told AFP on condition of anonymity."
"The bank reported that the USD 100 million was leaked into the Philippine banking system, sold to a black market foreign exchange broker and then transferred to at least three local casinos," AFP continues, adding that, "the amount was later sold back to the money broker and moved out to overseas accounts within days."
The Fed officially denied the statement:
"To date, there is no evidence of any attempt to penetrate Federal Reserve systems in connection with the payments in question, and there is no evidence that any Fed systems were compromised," a New York Fed spokeswoman said declining to comment on whether the U.S. central bank's New York branch was investigating the claim by its overseas counterpart.
The official investigation is in process.