HC seeks information on action against Bangladeshis named in Panama, Paradise Papers
The court says we all have to work to stop money-laundering
The High Court on Monday sought a report on action taken against individuals and organisations that have appeared in the media in the wake of the Panama and Paradise Papers scandals.
The bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice AKM Zahirul Haque asked the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to respond to the rule by 9 January 2022.
The court passed the order after a hearing on a list of 43 individuals and organisations involved in money laundering that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) submitted to the High Court earlier on Sunday.
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"We all have to work to stop money laundering. We don't want corruption in Bangladesh, which has been achieved through supreme sacrifice made by so many people. The way money is being laundered, we cannot ignore it. None of us can sit idle. Someone has to do something," the court said at the hearing.
"There is no anti-corruption organisation in our country. In India, they form human chains and wage movements."
Lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan appeared for the ACC and Deputy Attorney General Amin Uddin Manik represented the state at the hearing on the ACC report.
The list of money laundering individuals and organisations from Dhaka include Abdul Awal Mintu, Nasreen Fatema Awal, Tabith Awal, Tafsir Awal, Tajwar Md Awal, Chowdhury Faisal, Ahmed Samir, Brummer & Partners Asset Management (Bangladesh) Ltd. Moosa Bin Shamser, Fazle Elahi, KH Asadul Islam, Zulfiqar Ahmed, Imran Rahman, Eric Johnson Andres Wilson WMG Ltd, Farhan Yakubur Rahman, Amanullah Chagla, Mahtaba Rahman, Shahnaz Huda Razzak.
Mohammad A Awal and Mohammad Malek are from Chattogram and Tajul Islam Tajul and Faruk Palwan from Narayanganj.
Bangladeshi individuals and organisations abroad include Mughal Farida in New York, Shahid Ullah in Texas, Mohammad Atikuzzaman in Moscow, Mohammad Rezaul Haque in Malta, and Mahmud Hossain and the Global Education System in Ireland.
Earlier on 3 October, the HC directed ACC to focus on capturing the "real" large-scale money launderers instead of businessmen.
The court said that those who have built "Begum Paras" outside the country and siphoned out money to countries abroad are the real money launderers and that the ACC should take action against them.
