Police said on Thursday that an international crime network of hotels, travel agencies, bank officials and businessmen is involved in the recent ATM scam that stirred the country.
The information was quizzed out of the arrestees, said deputy inspector general of police Monirul Islam while talking to journalists at Dhaka police’s media centre.
One foreign national and three private bank officials have been detained so far over the scam where at least Tk 20 lakh was swindled out by forging ATM cards of bank subscribers.
The four ‘culprits’, including German national Piotr Szczepan Mazurek, and City Bank officials Moksed, Rezaul Karim and Refaz Ahmed gave out information of the network, said police.
The gang of fraudsters also include at least two expatriate Bangladeshis in London, nationals of Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Italy and many others but all of the did not come in to Bangladesh, informed police.
When asked if German national Piotr told police how much his gang has stolen from banks, Monirul said the foreign national did not know the exact amount but the transactions were limited to amounts ranging from Tk five to 20 lakhs.
Piotr and fellow gang members first searched for corrupt business bodies like a hotel or travel agent that uses a POS (point of sale) machine. They later on sought out some corrupt bank officials in the concerned section of the bank.
“Comparing frauds and the deficits in different banks’ transactions may let the banks find out the sources of the deficits. We are talking with Bangladesh Bank experts to close banks’ loopholes,” Monirul Islam said.
Source: Ittefaq
