The 34-year-old security researcher, Tanvir Hassan Zoha, disappeared mysteriously after only a few days, after openly accusing officials of the central bank of Bangladesh of negligence that led to the interception of more than $81 million from the country's offshore bank accounts.
On February 5, 2016, unknown-identity hackers managed to gain access to the accounts held by the central bank of Bangladesh at the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York and attempted to steal a billion dollars. Their attempt to transfer the money was thwarted by a simple typographical error, but they had already managed to siphon off 81 million dollars.
During the subsequent investigation, security researchers attributed the breach to the use of specialized malware and the exploitation of a faulty printer, but at the same time stated that officials of the central bank of Bangladesh bear a significant share of responsibility due to the failure to take adequate security measures. The bank's director and two deputy directors were forced to resign after the scandal erupted.
In a strange turn of events, one of the security researchers who expressed his criticism of the central bank's security measures disappeared on the night of last Wednesday.
Members of his family report that the researcher met with a friend at 23:30 on Wednesday night, and as they were returning, a jeep stopped in front of them and abducted them. The researcher’s friend was taken to a deserted location and when he managed to return the next day, he contacted Zoha’s family, who informed him that he had never returned home.
Immediately, the family contacted the authorities reporting his disappearance, but the police kept referring them from one police department to another, resulting in them abandoning the effort and eventually reaching out to the media for help.
Zoha publicly criticized the central bank of Bangladesh
According to BDNews24, Zoha had collaborated with several government agencies of Bangladesh in the past, and as it appears his critical comments regarding the robbery of the central bank of Bangladesh deeply offended some involved persons.
Answering questions regarding his own research on cyber‑theft, Zoha said that the «database administrator of the bank server cannot deny responsibility for the hacking» and that «has observed indifference regarding the security measures [of the server].»
Members of Zohan's family suspect that his comments to the press on March 11 are also the cause of his disappearance.
