Group tasked with monitoring ATMs, stole Tk3cr from several booths
A group tasked with monitoring and loading cash into ATM booths stole nearly Tk3 crore from the machines over a year, said law enforcement.
They used 'jamming' to steal Tk60,000 to Tk1 lakh a day, RAB officials said at a press briefing, having arrested eight members of the group.
A RAB-4 team, with the help of RAB headquarters' detective branch, arrested the embezzlers on Saturday in multiple raids across the capital, according to Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of the Legal and Media Wing of RAB.
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He said the arrested were tasked with placing money in the ATMs of a private bank as well as monitoring the machines. They would load cash into 231 ATM booth machines across Dhaka.
The RAB official said the group would deliberately jam the machines, placing a certain amount of currency notes while loading the tray. When a client would try to withdraw money at the booth, they would fail to do so and those notes would get deposited in the purse bin, which the group would later take away.
Commander Al Moin said various banks in Bangladesh use third party service providers to manage their ATM booths. Those groups are responsible for monitoring money laundering, security, technical faults, etc. at the booths.
A recent audit of the private bank the arrested parties were working for, revealed several cash discrepancies at their ATM booths. The bank authorities changed the third party company soon after the discovery, but the irregularities and discrepancies persisted at the booths, and the bank authorities informed RAB about it.
RAB, in its investigation, found that although the third party company was changed, the cash loaders and other technical teams remained the same. RAB arrested the group after monitoring them for a period of time.
Commander Al Moin of RAB, said Abdur Rahman was the mastermind of this group, and learned the method for stealing from one of his colleagues.
