Inter-agency taskforce formation underway

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A Z M Anas
Bangladesh is pressing forward with a plan to establish a dedicated inter-agency taskforce to be entrusted with the responsibility of retrieving the assets stashed away by the suspected corrupt.
"We're planning to put in place such an inter-agency force to help recover the assets stolen by the corrupt people, including political leaders, businessmen and bureaucrats," a well-placed source said Tuesday.
"The proposed taskforce, whose members will be kept limited to 10, will be exclusively engaged in the stolen assets recovery drive launched by the present caretaker administration," the source added.
The source noted that the proposed task force would operate quite secretly to help "prevent pre-emptive action" from those whose assets might be retrieved.
The plan is understood to have been a critical component of the interim administration's Stolen Assets Recovery (StAR) Initiative, which has remained operational since June last.
To be equipped with cutting-edge tools and expertise, the proposed high-profile inter-agency body may be deployed in specific countries and regions to bring back the money and other assets plundered by individuals, who resorted to white-collar crimes, several persons with knowledge of the move told the FE.
If constituted, this will be the country's first ever intelligence body dedicated to bringing back the assets stashed away abroad, they say. The central bank's Financial Intelligence Unit will act a coordinating agency for the taskforce, it is learnt.
Sources pointed out the taskforce will bring together officials from the Financial Intelligence Unit of Bangladesh Bank, Criminal Investigation Department, National Board of Revenue, Auditors' General's Office, and finance, home and foreign affairs ministries.
The sources said the government initiated the move following a proposal from the World Bank, which stands ready to support the effort over a medium term.
As part of its ongoing anti-corruption drive, the present caretaker government sought cooperation from the World Bank, particularly its president, for extending support in the area. And the bank's vice president for South Asia Praful C Patel announced in June last that his bank was ready to extend all-out support in this connection.
The sources noted that the global lender has already sponsored a close-door workshop with regard to the StAR initiative in July last.
A group of United Kingdom experts, who have experience in handling stolen assets recovery initiative, conducted the workshop, it is learnt.
As a follow-up to the first workshop, the Dhaka office of the World Bank is expected to arrange another workshop for the members of the taskforce.
"We're exploring the possibility of arranging for a group of experts from International Centre for Asset Recovery in Switzerland to come to Bangladesh to conduct "hands-on" two-week training as follow-up to the first workshop for members of the taskforce," country director of the World Bank Xian Zhu said in a letter to the finance and planning adviser last week.
Then, the bank will take up a programme to send some of the members abroad for stints in counterpart organisations in key centres such as London where such assets are suspected of being held.
Since taking over power in January, the present caretaker government has launched crackdown on graft, detaining scores of political leaders and businessmen.
In his address to the nation last Sunday, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed pointed out that his interim administration was able to bring back an estimated Tk 8.2 billion from corrupt individuals, including political leaders and businessmen, who amassed huge fortunes through corruption and stashed away multi-million dollars in foreign countries.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has so far published a list of 180 corrupt people and another list of 220 will be made public by the end of this month.