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The information helped identify several foreign suspects.

“Without getting information from those countries, it was not possible to complete the investigation properly. Due to delays in receiving responses to the MLAR requests, the investigation took longer,” said Additional SP Mamun.

CID officials say they have gathered information from authorities in China and the Philippines as well.

On September 18 last year, a Dhaka court ordered the seizure of funds from Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation as part of the ongoing investigation.

Investigators said they have traced the laundering of the stolen funds across the Philippines, Japan, North Korea, Sri Lanka, India and China.

They say around 30 individuals and seven companies in the Philippines were linked to the laundering process.

According to investigators, Philippine businessman Kam Sin Wong has been identified as a central figure in the network. Wong allegedly hired North Korean hacker Park Jin Hyok, believed to be associated with the state-backed Lazarus Group, also known as APT38.

The hackers allegedly sent malware-infected links to BB officials by email, gaining access to internal systems and initiating fraudulent SWIFT transactions.

Funds were routed through several intermediaries before being channelled into casinos, including Solaire Resort and Casino and Midas Hotel and Casino. Other entities identified in the laundering chain include Philrem Service Corporation, Centurytex Trading, ABBA Currency Exchange Inc and Beacon Currency Exchange Inc.

In Sri Lanka, investigators traced the attempted $20 million transfer to an account at Pan Asia Bank in Colombo belonging to the Shalika Foundation, led by Hegoda Gamage Shalika Perera.

The transaction failed after the word “foundation” was misspelt, alerting authorities and preventing the funds from being withdrawn.

CID officials say eight individuals and institutions in Sri Lanka have been linked to that attempted transfer.

SCRUTINY OF CENTRAL BANK LAPSES

Investigators are also examining possible lapses within the central bank.

They are reviewing why the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system was connected directly to the SWIFT network without adequate risk assessment.

They are also looking into the approval process that allowed the SWIFT server used to manage foreign reserves to be linked with the RTGS system under the then-governor Atiur Rahman.

Some BB officials allegedly downloaded malware-infected files without verifying their source, while others are suspected of removing technical evidence after the breach came to light.

CID officials say these issues will be detailed in the charge sheet.