ACC to sue 5 recruiting agencies over Tk 3.14b embezzlement
FE REPORT | Friday, 14 November 2025
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to file cases against five more recruiting agencies and 26 individuals on charges of embezzling and laundering Tk 3.14 billion in the name of sending workers to Malaysia.
Md Akhter Hossain, Director General (Prevention) of the ACC, told reporters on Thursday that the agencies had charged five times higher fees than the government-approved amount of Tk 78,990 from 18,767 workers.
Earlier, on November 11, the ACC filed cases against five persons from four recruiting agencies, and on November 6, it sued 11 officials from six agencies on similar charges. On September 14, the anti-graft body also lodged cases against top officials of 13 recruiting agencies for the same offence.
According to the ACC, GMG Trading (Pvt.) Ltd is accused of taking an extra Tk 474 million from 2,830 workers. Six individuals, including the company's chairman, have been named in the case. GMG Trading Associates allegedly took an extra Tk 542.5 million from 3,239 workers. Seven people, including the chairman and directors, have been made accused.
QK Quick Express Ltd is charged with collecting an additional Tk 716.06 million from 4,275 workers. The company's managing director, chairman, and five others are accused. MEF Global Bangladesh was slapped with two separate cases-one involves overcharging 4,566 workers by Tk 764.85 million, and the other accuses it of taking an extra Tk 646.05 million from 3,857 workers. The managing director, chairman, and other officials are among the accused.
Malaysia suspended worker recruitment from Bangladesh in 2018 due to various irregularities but resumed the process on December 19, 2021, after signing a new agreement. At that time, the Bangladeshi government set a maximum migration cost of Tk 78,540 per worker, as per a 2022 directive from the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment.
Initially, 10 licensed agencies were allowed to send workers under the 2016 agreement. After the 2021 memorandum of understanding, the number was increased to 100 agencies.
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