A US court has rejected the plea of six individuals and institutions for exempting them from a case filed by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) in connection with their alleged involvement in the US$81-million reserve heist.
As a result, there is no bar to continuing the case in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against the Philippine bank RCBC and 18 other individuals or organisations involved in the heist, according to the BB.
The exemption appeal was dismissed on January 13, said a BB press release.
The court in its observation said there was no way for the money to leave the Federal Reserve Bank without the cooperation of RCBC's New York account and the accused in the Philippines.
However, the US court also ordered the accused to submit their statements in court by February 2 about the money-heisting allegation made by the BB.
Bangladesh Bank had filed a case against 20 individuals and organisations including RCBC, in the United States District Court (Southern District of New York) to recover the money stolen from BB's account at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York through cyber-hacking.
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