PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) Caribbean’s Trinidad and Tobago operation has been scammed of over TT$14 million, according to media reports.

Money transfers as far as Hong Kong and Bulgaria were confirmed by local police, the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian reported.

The police said that in June, the managing director of CIBC Caribbean in the twin island republic reported that he was authorised to transfer TT$14,811,094.06 from the bank’s suspense processing account, a temporary holding account, to other external accounts.

The report said the managing director allegedly received directives via WhatsApp and email from the chief executive officer (CEO), prompting him to fulfil the transactions; however, upon further investigation after the money was sent, the CEO was found to be unaware of the transactions.

A report was made to the fraud squad, which discovered 19 transactions to accounts in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bulgaria.

The report said some of those accounts have since been closed and some money returned to the bank, with an estimated TT$9.4 million remaining unaccounted for.

The bank, through its public relations agency, told Trinidad and Tobago Guardian they were “not prepared to comment” on the matter.

The matter is reportedly still being probed, but investigators said the fraudsters may have used an elaborate phishing scam to get personal information and details to carry out the scheme.