Recovering laundered money: HC slams anti-graft watchdog for ‘sleeping’ on it

The High Court questioned the role of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in bringing back laundered money, saying it was "sleeping" on the matter.

The bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat on Wednesday also said the ACC had not worked in this regard for a long time – until an HC order finally awakened it.

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) informed the court that it wants to sign agreements with 10 countries in a bid to fight money laundering. A report in this regard was submitted to the court, which instructed the BFIU to finish the task within three months.

The court has set 5 February to submit the compliance report on the issue.

The BFIU is planning to sign deals with the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, the UAE, Switzerland, Thailand, Hong Kong and China to exchange information, evidence and other necessary assistance to recover laundered money.

According to the BFIU report, the Bangladesh Bank has been requested to ensure manpower for the proposed research cell that will identify money launderers and repatriate money illegally sent abroad.

Back in August, the High Court bench summoned BFIU chief Md Masud Biswas to explain the report on the accounts maintained by Bangladeshis in Swiss banks.

It directed the BFIU chief to form a cell to prevent money laundering and bring laundered money back. It also ordered Masud to submit a progress report in this regard to the court by 26 October.

On 10 August, the Swiss ambassador in Dhaka Nathalie Chuard said they had been providing the Bangladesh government with all information regarding deposits of Bangladeshi money in Swiss banks, "but no request has been submitted regarding any particular account".

On 11 August, the High Court bench ordered the government and the ACC to explain why the government had not sought such information.

On 14 August, the BFIU was asked to submit a report in this regard in an affidavit form.

On 21 August, following the HC order, the BFIU report was submitted stating that information regarding deposits of 67 Bangladeshis in various Swiss banks was sought from the authorities concerned in Bern. But the Swiss authorities only provided the details of one individual which the BFIU also submitted to the ACC.

According to the BFIU report, the Swiss bank published its annual report on 16 June this year. The next day, the Swiss authorities were requested to provide certain information about the money deposited by Bangladeshi banks and individuals in various Swiss banks through Egmont Secure Web (ESW).

However, Bangladesh has not yet received any information, it added.