The central bank has asked all the scheduled banks to check and freeze accounts of three global groups of terrorists specially designated by the United Sates, officials said.
They said the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of Bangladesh Bank issued the directive for freezing the accounts of the three outfits of 'Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs)' on the US list. Â
According to the sources, the central bank intelligence acted on a request from the ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA). It asked the banks to inform the Unit if any funds or wealth of those groups are deposited with them.
The MoFA on July 10 in a letter had requested the central bank for the action. The BFIU on July 28 informed the MoFA that scheduled banks had been asked to act accordingly. Â
Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank and Chief of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit Abu Hena Md Razi Hasan told the FE Tuesday banks were given standing instructions to inform the central bank immediately if any suspicious transactions or resources deposited with them were found.
He said the Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 has special mention that steps will be taken under the law if any person, entity or foreigner indulged in threatening the unity, integration, public security or sovereignty of Bangladesh by creating panic among the public.
Mr Hasan said the scheduled banks were yet to inform the central bank if they found the presence of any such funds or wealth of the SDGTs deposited with them.
The SDGTs is a designation authorised under US Executive Order 13224 of the US Code of Federal Regulations.
Such groups are entities and individuals who the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) finds have committed or pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism, or who the OFAC finds provide support, services, or assistance to, or otherwise associate with, terrorists and terrorist organisations designated under OFAC Counter Terrorism Sanctions programs.
The designation SDGT is one of several types of designations of persons to whom one or more OFAC-administered sanctions apply. These include country-specific and counter- narcotics trafficking, non-proliferation, and transnational criminal organization-related sanctions, and potentially under sanctions related to illicit trading in rough diamonds.
The main regulatory framework underlying the SDGTs designation was established two weeks after the September 11 attacks in 2001, through an executive order by then President George W. Bush.
When contacted, an official of the MoFA acknowledged having sent such a request to the central bank for actions. He wouldn't name the terrorist groups.
The counterterrorism step, incidentally, gained ground in the wake of recent attacks in Bangladesh as well as in some western countries.
syful-islam@outlook.com
Freeze 3 global terrorist groups’ bank accounts
Syful Islam | Published: August 03, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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