Bangladesh News

Kuala Lumpur has agreed to provide bank information about Bangladeshis in Malaysia if Dhaka asks for such information about any specific corruption suspects in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh however has to secure permission from Malaysian central bank for using the information in court or for other purposes, according to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries in Kuala Lumpur recently.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) Executive Director Abul Quasem and Malaysian central bank’s Deputy Governor Dato Zamani Abdul Ghani signed the MoU on behalf of their respective countries, a BB official told The Daily Star yesterday.

Under the MoU, Malaysia will also get similar bank information about any Malaysian citizens in Bangladesh, if it wants.

“Bangladesh can get back the money (the bank information concerns) only if it is proved in Bangladeshi court that the money was illegally gained and smuggled,” said the official referring to the MoU.

The office of attorney general or the home ministry of Bangladesh has to send the court verdict to the Malaysian government, which will then have to take permission from Malaysian court to consider if the money would be sent back to Bangladesh.

BB officials said the central bank would now ask the government to give it the names of corruption suspects, who allegedly smuggled money to Malaysia, for sending those to Malaysia’s central bank.

Bangladesh is soon going to sign similar MoUs with UK, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

“It will help investigation into cases concerning criminals smuggling out huge money from Bangladesh to other countries,” said one official.

Many corruption suspects of Bangladesh have reportedly invested huge money in Malaysia taking advantage of the Malaysian “Second Home Project”.

The foreign ministry last year requested the Malaysian government to give a list of these suspects but it did not respond.

“Now that the MoU is signed, Malaysia will provide bank information on any Bangladeshi who took advantage of the Second Home Project,” a senior BB official noted.

The 25 other countries with which Bangladesh is trying to have similar agreements include India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, the Maldives, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Mauritius, Vietnam and Cambodia.

“But we have not initiated fruitful negotiations with some major countries, which have become destinations of money launderers and corrupt people,” the official said.

APG team

An expert team from the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) led by its Executive Principal David Shannon yesterday met the BB Governor and other high officials on the first day of its visit. The team will evaluate the country’s safeguard against money laundering and terror financing till August 31.

The five-member team will crosscheck if the newly enacted anti- money laundering and terror financing acts of Bangladesh maintained standards of international acts on similar issues, said a BB official.