Dhaka: Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Abu Hena Razee Hassan on Wednesday said the Finance Minister had been kept unaware about the stolen money for the sake of investigation.

‘He was (Finance Minister) informed when the investigation reached a specific point,’ he said while briefing reporters about the central bank’s steps in this regard.

He said Bangladesh Bank informed all the agencies felt to be necessary.

There is a report that the Bangladesh Bank formally informed the Finance Ministry about the details of the hacked money on March 7, while it was reportedly stolen from the account of Bangladesh Bank with the Federal Reserve Bank in New York on February 3.

The deputy governor came up with the remarks after a meeting with the top executives of different banks at the Bangladesh Bank.

Replying to a question whether Bangladesh will sue the US Federal Reserves, Abu Hena said, ‘Everything cannot be revealed right now…after investigation we’ll decide what steps to be taken in this regard.’

Executive director of the central bank Subhankar Saha said a World Bank cyber security and governance expert is working with the Bangladesh Bank to assist investigation. ‘At this point, there’s no scope to disclose anything. Despite that we’re releasing one or two points.’

He said Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of the central bank is now working with its counterpart-the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) of the Philippines actively to recover the stolen money of about $81 million.

A Philippines court has already cleared the way for the authorities there to proceed on for the investigation to block the money so that it cannot go out of the country. ‘We’re now hopeful we’ll be able to get the whole hacked money back from the Philippines,’ Subhankar said.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Bank has been able to bring back $20 million from Sri Lanka of the stolen money.

Responding to another question whether the passport of any of Bangladesh Bank official was seized or anyone of the central bank is involved with the hackers, Subhankar said he has no information in this regard.

World Bank cyber security expert Rakesh Asthana said, ‘We’re still in the middle of the investigation. So, it’s hard to rule anything out… Most of the sings point to being something external,’ he said.