Money laundering, terror financing galore

CHITTAGONG, Mar 23: A seminar here today identified several areas of money laundering and terror financing in Bangladesh.
Major areas, according to findings revealed at the seminar, are Chittagong seaport, Dhaka and Chittagong airports, Custom Houses, government offices, management of a section of banks, utility service providers, under-invoicing and over-invoicing in opening L/Cs by the businesspersons.
The speakers said money laundering and terror financing are considered to be the most criminal offences throughout the world. These two offences stand in the way of socio-economic development of Bangladesh. A huge amount of hard-earned foreign exchange has been drained out of the country.
Terror financing puts a country into high risks of drug addiction, militancy and terrorism, the seminar observed. According to guidelines of different international agencies, every country has to go through the National Risk Assessment (NRA) every year to identify the risks facing the society.
The seminar on money laundering and terror financing was organised jointly by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police.
Brigadier General (retd) MH Salahuddin, ACC director general, addressed the seminar as the chief guest while different stakeholders and representatives of government offices made observations and suggestions. General Manager of the BFIU Debaprosad Devnath chaired and moderated the seminar.
The ACC DG said banks, non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs), capital market intermediaries, money changers, insurance companies, NGOs (non-governmental organisations), government and semi-government and autonomous bodies, Rab, BGB, passport and immigration officials are the reporting agencies. But some of the agencies including some NGOs are directly involved in terror financing and money laundering, he said.
High-ups in some bank managements are involved in money laundering. But the mid-level officers of those banks owned by businessmen-turned politicians are being used as scapegoats while the top managements remain behind the scene.
 "This has happened due to ignorance among the bankers about money laundering. Most of them don't understand how money laundering is taking place," he said.
He said, "Morality and ethics of the individual concerned and his/her love for the nation or patriotism should be the two major guiding principles for us."
Director of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mahfuzul Hoque Shah said 10 per cent businessmen are dishonest but businesses in general are blamed for mischievous activities.
Most of the Bangladesh Bank regulations are outdated and banks claim exorbitant lending rates. This encourages the businesses to resort to corruption, he said.
AM Mahbub Chowdhury, adviser for shipping of the BGMEA alleged that the freight forwarders have been draining Tk 10 million every day out of the country by taking advantage of faults and loopholes in the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act.
He said he had written to the Governor of Bangladesh Bank to amend the FER Act 23(3) which has barred the aggrieved persons from filing cases for realising their sales proceeds from the buyers abroad or their representatives in the country.