A total of 64 individuals and institutions, both local and foreign, including former Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman, have been accused in connection with the Bangladesh Bank reserve heist. In this widely discussed case, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has prepared a draft charge sheet and case docket and sent it to the Attorney General’s Office for legal opinion.
According to documents, individuals and entities from seven countries, including Bangladesh, are involved in this international cyber hacking and money laundering case. Among the accused, 36 are from the Philippines, 10 from Bangladesh, 2 from North Korea, 3 from China, 8 from Sri Lanka, 1 from Japan, and 4 from India.
The approximately 150-page draft charge sheet includes forensic analysis, evidence collected with the assistance of international investigative agencies, and a detailed description of the complex money laundering network. Approximately 10,000 pages of documents have been submitted as evidence in the case.
According to CID sources, the investigation is nearing its conclusion, and efforts are underway to prepare an accurate charge sheet based on 100% evidence. Investigating officer Al Mamun stated that further steps would be taken after receiving the legal opinion from the Attorney General, and the final charge sheet might include more than 60 defendants.
Among the listed Bangladeshi accused are Anis A Khan, K M Abdul Wadud, Shubhankor Saha, Rezaul Karim, Zobaer Bin Huda, A F M Asaduzzaman, Mezbaul Haque, Abul Kashem, and Md. Sultan Masud Ahmed. The names of some Indian accused have also been mentioned.
A section of the CID stated that with the assistance of the US investigative agency FBI, North Korean hackers Park Jin Hyok and the ‘Lazarus Group’ have been identified as the main culprits. Simultaneously, the movement of approximately $81 million laundered through the Philippine RCBC Bank has also been traced.
In February 2016, $101 million was stolen from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the New York Federal Reserve Bank through fraudulent messages via the SWIFT system. Approximately 40 days after the incident, Bangladesh Bank filed a case under the Money Laundering Prevention Act at Motijheel Police Station. The CID subsequently began investigating the case.
Subsequently, several investigating officers were changed at various stages, and the investigation was finalized in 2025 under the supervision of a review committee. Earlier this year, the draft charge sheet was prepared and sent to the Attorney General’s Office for legal opinion.
The first investigating officer of the case, and current Additional DIG, Raihan Uddin Khan, conducted the investigation from March 2016 to August 2023. Through the Mutual Legal Assistance Request (MLAR) process, he collected information regarding the involvement of 64 local and foreign individuals and institutions and achieved significant progress, including the recovery of a portion of the stolen funds.
Sharing his seven years of investigation experience, he said, “As the case was filed 40 days after the theft, we faced great difficulty in accessing the actual crime scene. By then, some unauthorized foreign and local individuals had already entered the crime scene. Despite this, the CID team skillfully collected necessary evidence from home and abroad. Important testimonies and evidence were collected from the Philippines, India, and Japan. The statement of Maya Deguito, the branch manager of RCBC in the Philippines, was also recorded, where she admitted the involvement of multiple foreign defendants.”
It is learned that pressure was exerted during the investigation to exclude the names of Bangladeshi defendants. According to allegations, due to his refusal to remove names based on evidence, investigating officer Raihan Uddin Khan was removed from his duties in August 2023.
According to sources, an inter-ministerial meeting concerning the reserve heist case was held at the Ministry of Home Affairs on November 1, 2020. The then Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Home Secretary, Secretary of the Financial Institutions Division, Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Head of BFIU, Head of CID, and other senior officials were present. It is claimed that during that meeting, instructions were given to submit a charge sheet excluding the names of Bangladeshi accused. However, it is also mentioned that the two concerned investigating officers were expelled from the meeting for not agreeing to this.
It is further known that after the then CID chief Mohammad Ali took charge in August 2022, he held multiple meetings regarding the progress of the case. Allegations suggest that he initially took a stance against including Bangladeshi defendants in the charge sheet and later proposed providing the forensic report to a foreign law firm, which created controversy.
Sources claim that despite repeated pressure to drop the names of Bangladeshi defendants, investigating officer Raihan Uddin Khan rejected it, as, in his opinion, all evidence had already been collected and verified. He was subsequently removed from the case in August 2023, and his responsibilities were transferred elsewhere.
Former senior CID officials claim that through a long and complex investigation process, almost all types of evidence have been collected, and a draft charge sheet has been prepared, which determines the roles and liabilities of all accused, both local and foreign.
Meanwhile, according to review committee sources, the interim government formed a high-level committee to advance this long-stalled case. Although the names of several local individuals and institutions emerged during the investigation, attempts were made to exclude them—however, this was not realized due to the stance of the investigating officers. Consequently, with the draft charge sheet of the reserve heist case prepared after almost a decade, the possibility of initiating the judicial process has emerged.