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| Why is the ACC silent on the wealth of Bangladeshis abroad? |
The High Court of the country has repeatedly ordered the ACC to investigate Bangladeshis who have assets or houses outside the country. But there is very little precedent for the ACC to start an investigation on its own initiative. And it is not known what will happen in the end of the investigation.
Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB). Iftekharuzzaman said, "The fact that the High Court has to give this order again and again proves that those who do this work are not performing their duties properly."
However, ACC lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam said, 'We have to collect the correct information and proceed with the legal process. It's time-consuming.'
Wealth of 459 Bangladeshis in Dubai
Recently, the High Court has ordered four agencies including the ACC to investigate the allegations of buying assets of 459 Bangladeshis in Dubai. Apart from the ACC, the CID, National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of Bangladesh Bank have been given this directive.
Justice Md. The High Court bench consisting of Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat gave this order on Sunday. The court asked to give a report in this regard within 30 days. The order was given in a writ hearing based on the information published in the newspaper.
On January 11, a news media revealed that 459 Bangladeshis own about 1,000 properties in Dubai. Based on the analysis of the data collected by the US-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies, the EU Tax Observatory said that those 459 Bangladeshis bought properties in Dubai by concealing information in Bangladesh. As of 2020, a total of 972 properties have been purchased there under their ownership. On paper, the value is 315 million US dollars.
14 Houses of Wassar MD
A few days ago, Wasa Managing Director (MD) Taksim A Khan had 14 houses in the United States. Then on January 9, the same bench of the High Court ordered the ACC to investigate the house. However, Wasser MD admitted to having a house in the US in his wife's name. And denied all wealth.
Earlier, the High Court asked the ACC for a list of those who have accumulated wealth by laundering money outside the country. ACC submitted a list of 67 such persons to the High Court on January 27 last year, but the court expressed its displeasure as the list did not contain detailed information. Earlier, on the order of the court, ACC listed 29 individuals and 14 organizations on December 6, 2021.
Bangladeshis in the elite areas of London
Despite the latest order of the High Court, the information of Bangladeshis having huge wealth abroad has been revealed. On January 15, a Bengali daily reported that Bangladeshis are among the foreigners who own houses in London's elite areas. Foreigners now make up 40 percent of property buyers in prime central London, according to reports.
Astons, an immigration service provider, has reported this information on investment quotas for wealthy people from different countries around the world. They say that Bangladeshis bought properties worth about 12 million 29 million pounds through 98 transactions in the area from January to September 2020. Which is one thousand 561 crores in Bangladeshi currency.
Minister knows, ACC doesn't
In June 2021, Foreign Minister AK Abdul said that he has information about 28 Bangladeshis buying houses in Canada. He then said, "Only four of those 28 are politicians, the rest are government officials. But the ACC did not work with that information earlier. The news media also published information about the wealth of Bangladeshis in different countries of the world including Australia, Malaysia. The residential area of Bangladeshis is known as 'Begum Para' in Canada. There, a section of Bangladeshi expatriates have been agitating for many days to take action against money launderers from Bangladesh. Canada recently imposed a two-year ban on foreigners buying homes.
What does the ACC do?
According to the partial information available from the Money Laundering Section of the ACC, a total of 117 cases related to money laundering have been filed so far, out of which 83 cases are under investigation. Investigation of 34 cases has been completed with charge sheet in 32 cases and final report in two cases, 11 accused have been arrested in 83 cases under investigation.
According to the data of this department, money is laundered in Singapore, UK, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Canada, USA. In terms of type of smuggling, three cases of ACC have been investigated for smuggling loans from offshore banking units into banking channels. ACC is yet to investigate and determine whether hundi, trade-based money laundering or cash was involved in other cases.
However, according to the ACC report submitted to the High Court in 2020, the ACC has filed charge sheets in 47 cases of money laundering from 2016 to 2020 and is investigating 88 cases. They also brought back little money compared to smuggling.
Who is responsible?
TIB Executive Director Dr. Iftekharuzzaman said, 'Money laundering has taken a terrible form in Bangladesh. But not only ACC, it is the responsibility of Bangladesh Bank, NBR, CID to prevent it. The High Court's repeated orders to investigate these incidents prove that those whose responsibility it is to prevent it are not performing their duties properly.
He said, 'There can be many reasons for this. The ACC Act also has some limitations in not having the capacity to detect financial crimes. These may be arguments. But the biggest thing is that what I saw in the case of Dubai is that those who have built wealth through money laundering are all influential. They are also politically influential. It is in the law, it is in the international law, yet the law is not enforced against them. If the matter is caught now, it has become a situation where the hand will be burnt.'
And ACC lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam said, 'The media can provide information. But we have to collect all that information in proper legal process. If you want to bring information from outside the country, you have to bring it under mutual legal assistance. It is a matter of time.'
He said, 'We first collect information and verify it. If the information is correct we form a complaint (case). Then again investigation and charge sheet. If the evidence is not correct, the case cannot be proved.
He said, 'The information we get from the media. I also get complaints from various organizations and individuals.'
"We have not received the certified copy of the order of the High Court which ordered the inquiry into the last two matters. The investigation will begin. But I have informed the commission orally, said this lawyer.
The report was prepared by Haroon ur Rashid Swapan for the Bengali edition of German media Deutsche Welle. All responsibility for this report rests with Deutsche Welle.
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