Difficulties in getting back the stolen money
Sunday, 7 October 2007
One has to be very pragmatic about dealing with issues like getting back the stolen money. All concerned would, of course, welcome any well-purported move for bringing back the money that the corrupt persons have transferred abroad. But it is not a simple matter and it involves many complex and intricate issues. While raising expectations about the return of the stolen money, the ground-level realities must not be ignored.
In this context, we appreciate the appeal that the Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed made recently to the international community in his address to the United Nations to help Bangladesh in this matter. But we also take note of what the Finance Adviser said about the prospects for bringing back such stolen money form abroad, on his return from the Philippines. He said that it would be rather unrealistic to expect that much of such money would ever be brought back. Here, the Finance Adviser has been very pragmatic, keeping legal tangles, the laws in the host countries, etc., into consideration. Other countries did not also much succeed in recovering billions of their stolen dollars even after painstakingly pursuing the same.
Success in this area will, however, involve tenacity and devotion but the international laws and other constraints have also been operating here. Bangladesh cannot alone get these laws changed and the constraints, removed. It has to work in concert with others for the purpose.
Nasim Ahmed
Eskaton, Dhaka
In this context, we appreciate the appeal that the Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed made recently to the international community in his address to the United Nations to help Bangladesh in this matter. But we also take note of what the Finance Adviser said about the prospects for bringing back such stolen money form abroad, on his return from the Philippines. He said that it would be rather unrealistic to expect that much of such money would ever be brought back. Here, the Finance Adviser has been very pragmatic, keeping legal tangles, the laws in the host countries, etc., into consideration. Other countries did not also much succeed in recovering billions of their stolen dollars even after painstakingly pursuing the same.
Success in this area will, however, involve tenacity and devotion but the international laws and other constraints have also been operating here. Bangladesh cannot alone get these laws changed and the constraints, removed. It has to work in concert with others for the purpose.
Nasim Ahmed
Eskaton, Dhaka