Computers of local NGO accused in Bangladeshi bank hacking case come under forensic scrutiny
Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya on Wednesday ordered the Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology, Moratuwa University to analyse and report to the court the erased data of a computer and two mobile phones in connection with the illegal transfer of US$ 20 million to a NGO in Colombo after hacking the accounts of the Bangladesh Central Bank. The court issued the order following a request by OIC IP Nalinda Herath of the Criminal Investigation Department unit attached to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Central Bank, who submitted a report on the preliminary investigation on the transfer of US$ 20 million from accounts of the Bangladesh Central Bank at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the Shalika Foundation, a NGO in Colombo.
The CID informed the court that the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the computer and a mobile phone belonged to one Priyankara Jayadeva and another mobile phone belonged M.P. Niluka from Tissamaharama had been seized. The CID reported that Jayadeva who was allegedly involved in the incident had left the country and a Japanese national Thadasi Sasaki had been in the country during the period July and August, 2014. The CID also said they have recorded statements of directors of the Shalika Foundation – Shalika Perera, Prasad Rohitha, Nishantha Nalaka, Sanjeewa Bandara and Shirani Dammika Fernando. The court extended the travel ban on the directors. The CID has not so far made any arrest. The inquiry was put off for July 7.