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Download PDF A total of 25 individuals and business firms on Sunday deposited Tk 424 crore of their ill-gotten money to the central bank.
Of the amount, Tk 410 crore was deposited locally and $ 2 million or nearly Tk 14 crore, smuggled out abroad during the last few years, was brought back from abroad.
The individuals and firms that deposited the money on Sunday are Giasuddin Al Mamun, a businessman and friend of Tarique Rahman, Lutfozzaman Babar, former state minister for home affairs, Rezaul Karim, director of Orion Group, Wakil Ahmed, an Awami League leader, Noor Ali, a businessman, Amin Mohammad Foundation, National Bank Ltd, AB Bank Foundation, S Alam Group, Eastern Housing, Bangladesh Ship Breakers’ Association, Partex Group and Bashundhara Group.
As of Sunday, the amount of illegally earned money received by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) totalled Tk 877 crore. The bank received Tk 436 crore from April through August and $ 2.5 million or near about Tk 18 crore in last month alone, said sources.
The first time in the history of the country the central bank made such illegal money retrieval was in April this year when seven businessmen deposited Tk 270 crore of their illegal money following the government’s anti-corruption drives.
The joint forces investigating high profile financial crimes have so far interrogated a number of graft suspects and businessmen. The joint forces believe that a large amount of black money that was siphoned off and a portion of it that remains in the country could be retrieved by the government, added the sources.
The World Bank (WB), USA, and the UK have offered to help the government with their expertise in investigating international financial crimes.
A few months back, the WB in a proposal offered cooperation to the government in getting back the black money that had been transferred to other countries. The government is currently reviewing the proposal, sources said.
Besides, the WB under a programme titled Stolen Asset Recovery (SAR) provided training to a number of BB officials in July this year. The WB experts are scheduled to train more officials from the central bank and a few other agencies concerned next week.
The government believes that the corrupt individuals, during the past few years, had transferred a huge amount of illegally earned money to Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States and some countries in the Middle East.
Last week, the government formed a high-powered 10-member task force headed by the BB governor to bring back the money siphoned off by the corrupt. The task force will also coordinate efforts of different government agencies working towards the same objective, sources added.
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