The government is going to empower numerous agencies, in addition to the lone anti-graft body, to independently investigate pecuniary offences, money laundering in particular.
Sources said the National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh Bank, Police and the Department of Narcotics Control would carry out the probe simultaneously under the Money Laundering Prevention Act to scale up the drive.
The move is being taken in compliance with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and as part of efforts to combat money laundering, they added.
Presently, the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) holds sole authority to investigate and take legal steps under the money-laundering prevention act-2012.
According to the act, the ACC can empower any law-enforcement agency to probe any money-laundering offence, but those have to take approval from it before submitting charge-sheet.
A senior official at the ministry of finance told the FE that the FATF has recommended empowering other law-enforcement agencies to independently probe
crimes involving money laundering.
He said FATF, the inter-governmental body which promotes effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering and terror financing, made the recommendation to remove this 'limitation' laid down in the 2012 law.
The official said the plan will be placed before the National Coordination Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism next week. Finance Minister AMA Muhith heads the national body.
"We are expecting that the committee will give approval for empowering other law-enforcement agencies, alongside the ACC, to deal with the money laundering-related offences independently," he said.
He said necessary amendment to the money laundering prevention act will be made once the approval is given.
Sources said due to the aforesaid limitation various agencies, including Police, do not take any measure against such offences. The criminal investigation department (CID) and customs and tax wings of the NBR raised the issue in different meetings for solution.
They pointed out that the money laundering prevention act 2002 had empowered BB and its authorised agencies to investigate money-laundering allegations. In 2007 the power was vested in the ACC by incorporating the money laundering prevention act into the ACC Act of 2004.
The amendment to the money laundering prevention act in 2009 also kept the power of probing the offences under the act within the jurisdiction of ACC. The act of 2012 also empowered the ACC to authorise other agencies to probe the offences under the act.
Officials said the ACC only investigates the cases related to bribery and corruption out of 27 predicate offences mentioned in the money laundering prevention act of 2012. The rest of the offences are being investigated by police, NBR, and narcotics department.
If the committee empowers other agencies to investigate the money laundering offences, these will have to be omitted from the ACC act and the role of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit of BB as coordinator of investigations has to be re-fixed, the officials added.
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