Three Ukrainian nationals, involved in pilfering money from Dutch-Bangla Bank ATM booths, have fled the country recently, it was learnt.
According to intelligence agency sources, at least 173 Ukrainians had entered the country in the last 30 days. Six of them were apprehended for their involvement in the scam and are now in police custody. The police investigation is focusing on finding out other Ukrainian suspects at large in the country.
After getting information from the intelligence agency, the Immigration Police at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport is scrutinizing the names of the Ukranians who have left the country by Turkish Airlines after Eid-ul-Azhar.
An international fraud ring was involved in stealing money from Automated Teller Machines (ATM) of the private commercial bank in the capital recently.
Detective Branch of police source told the Daily Observer that during remand, the accused disclosed three other names of persons involved with the scam that drew money from the ATMs.
"So we are collecting information about them. We have also verified their domestic links," a source said.
Two foreigners, wearing masks and caps, drew money from a Dutch-Bangla Bank ATM booth in Badda on May 31. They pilfered around Tk 3 lakh. Similarly, two others tried to draw money from a Taltola booth of the bank in the Khilgaon area.
Although the bank had reported theft in two of their ATM booths, investigators later found that around Tk 16 lakh was stolen from a total of nine of the bank's ATMs in different areas of the capital.
In Khilgaon, a security guard caught one person named Denys Vitomskyi and the other, Vitalii Klimchuk, fled the scene.
Later, police raided a hotel in the capital's Panthapath Road and arrested Ukrainian nationals Valentyn Sokolovskyi, Volodymyr Trishchynskyi, Serhii Ukrainets, Oleg Shevchuk, and Nazarii Vozniuk. Later, a case was filed against the accused in this regard.
Meanwhile, after scrutinizing CCTV footages, the investigators now suspect that around 12 to 15 Ukrainians -- who are believed to be members of an international hacker gang -- were involved with the heist.
The official also said they have asked police headquarters to seek the assistance of the international police agency, Interpol, to locate the absconding foreign nationals. Since no stolen money was recovered from the six arrested Ukrainians, investigators suspect more people are involved in the scam.
Detective Branch (DB), Cybercrime unit of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police are now jointly investigating the incident. As the country's Immigration Department has no information of Klimchuk leaving the country, investigators believe he went underground with the help of his local partners.
An official of the CID said the criminals were members of 'Hidden Cobra,' a North Korean hacker group, and had links to 'Lazarus Group,' the infamous gang involved in the 2016 Bangladesh Bank heist.
They CID warned bank authorities recently after getting a tip-off from an foreign intelligence agency about such a hacker group, he added. The CID also filed a case against the seven under the Money Laundering Act on Monday.
