- The IT expert who participated in the investigation of the $ 81-M heist has gone missing for days
- He exposed the senior bank official’s alleged negligence that allowed hackers to steal the money
- The family believed he may have been abducted by the authorities after speaking to the media about his allegations
The IT researcher and expert who blamed the Bangladeshi government over its weak and faulty security protocol that led to the stealing of $ 81-M heist by hackers has been missing for days.
Tanveer Hassan Zoha, a computer expert who is involved in the investigation of the multi-million electronic fraud reportedly went missing since Wednesday night, March 18.
The family has reported the incident to the Bhashantek police station but did not file any formal complaint after receiving a phone call from someone.
But the family claimed the police refused to receive their general diary on the incident despite going to at least three police stations.
Zoha’s wife, Dr. Kamrun Nahar Chowdhury, has appealed to the Bangladeshi prime minister, home minister and the law enforcement agencies to locate the whereabouts of her husband. Her last contact with him was via a telephone call around 11:30 pm on Wednesday.
“It has been more than 48 hours since my husband went missing. We are very worried,” she told the Dhaka Tribune. “We have contacted police several times but there is no update. My mother-in-law fell sick after Zoha’s disappearance.”
The family believed he may have been abducted by authorities after speaking to the media about the government’s supposed negligence that allowed still unidentified hackers to steal $ 81-M from Bangladeshi central bank and transfer them to spurious accounts in the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Zoha, who identified himself as an official of the ICT division of the ministry of posts, telecommunications and information technology, has accused senior central bank officials of gross negligence that let hackers install Malware on the bank’s computer system.
The Malware allowed the attackers to obtain credentials to transfer the money to different overseas bank accounts. While the hackers, tried to steal $ 1-billion from the bank, a simple typo error fortunately prevented the full heist.
During investigation in February, Zoha went to the central bank where he spent several hours with the police. Later on, he told the media he knew at least three of the user IDs used in the cyber-attack.
The scandal eventually led to the resignation of Central bank’s governor Atiur Rahman and his two deputy governors.
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