The High Court recommended Wednesday that Bangladesh should go for government-to-government agreements along with mutual legal assistance (MLA) deals with the countries concerned to bring back huge siphoned-off money.
An HC bench comprising Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order after hearings on a report submitted by Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) on what steps they have taken to recover the money reportedly taken out of the country into 'tax havens'.
The court gave the BFIU authority and Bangladesh Bank (BB) three months to sign MLA deals with 10 countries for obtaining information and proof required to recover the 'black money' stashed away.
The court fixed February 5, 2023 for passing further order on the much-talked-about matter of 'capital flight'.
Deputy Attorney-General AKM Amin Uddin Manik placed the BFIU report in the court, while Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) during the hearings.
Manik said, "We have placed the report of the BFIU regarding the recovery of the smuggled money. The report mentions taking steps to enter into MLA agreements with at least 10 countries.
"Three months time was sought from the court to implement these steps and to report progress on further necessary measures. The court granted three months time and fixed February 5 for further order on the issue."
Head of BFIU Md Masud Biswas sent the report in compliance with an earlier order of the High Court.
The countries are the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Thailand and Hong Kong (China).
A UNB report adds: The report also said "BFIU has asked Bangladesh Bank (BB) to recruit manpower for the proposed 'Research Cell' which will help in identifying money launderers and recovering the money".
According to the report, the recruitment process is currently ongoing.
The report adds that the sixth meeting of a taskforce led by the attorney-general and formed to recover laundered money took place on January 3, 2022.
Attended by representatives of the Home Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, FID, ACC, BFIU and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police, the meeting decided that urgent steps needed to be taken to identify the launderers and bring back black money stashed into foreign banks.
The High Court on August 31 ordered the head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit to form a research cell to prevent money laundering, bring back laundered money, monitor and control it.
The financial-intelligence chief, Md Masud Biswas, was also directed to submit a progress report regarding the formation of Research Cell by the next hearing set to be held on October 26.
On August 10, Swiss Ambassador in Dhaka Nathalie Chuard said they had been providing the Bangladesh government with all information regarding deposits of Bangladeshi money with Swiss banks, "but no request has been submitted regarding any particular account".
On August 11, the High Court bench ordered the government and the ACC to explain why the government did not seek information on deposits of Bangladesh money into Swiss banks. On August 14, the Financial Intelligence Unit was asked to submit a report in this regard in the affidavit form.
On August 21, following the High Court order, the BFIU report was submitted stating that the information regarding deposits of 67 Bangladeshis in various Swiss banks was sought from the authorities concerned in Bern.
biakshju@gmail.com
