On average 12-15b dollars laundered annually: Iftekharuzzaman

It’s impossible to find out exactly how much money has been laundered out of Bangladesh in total.

However, evidence has been found that 17 billion dollars have been laundered using formal medium like banks.

Based on different incidents, it can be estimated that on an average 12 to 15 billion have been laundered from Bangladesh annually.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) executive director Iftekharuzzaman said these in a seminar on the ‘ways to bring back laundered money’ at the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF office) in capital’s Paltan area on Saturday.

He addressed the seminar as the chief guest.

Iftekharuzzaman said Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of the Bangladesh Bank has worked as an accomplice in corruption and money money laundering for a long period of time.

The main culprit behind the way the country’s banking sector has been pushed to the edge is the Bangladesh Bank, he added.

Under the current situation, TIB executive director said there’s no alternative to bringing basic reforms to these institutions and reorganise them from the start.

Journalist association, Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) and Shombhabonar Bangladesh jointly organised the seminar.

GreenWatch Dhaka editor Mostafa Kamal Majumder moderated the seminar while ERF president Refayet Ullah Mirdha gave the welcome speech.

Iftekharuzzaman stated that irregularities, corruption and money laundering have been committed for a long time by establishing a circle of power and by taking different institutions under control.

The tripartite plot involving politics, bureaucracy and businesses has played the central role in this case, he said adding there has been a practice of politicisation going on in all the institutes for a long span of time.

"The ultimate form of which we have noticed in the last 15-16 years."

In this case, Iftekharuzzaman said the political power provided the authority to bureaucracy while different agencies have been used in the execution.

Therefore, how much changes can be brought into these areas is significant. "The changes we are expecting to happen should be sustainable," he added.

So far, there’s just a single instance of bringing back laundered money from Singapore, Itekharuzzaman said.

On the matter of repatriating laundered money, Iftekharuzzaman said that although the process is a really tough and lengthy one, it’s possible to retrieve laundered money. Laundered money can be repatriated through agreements with those countries to which the money has been siphoned off.

In that case, it’s important to have a cooperative attitude on the part of those countries.

The TIB executive director also said that there has to be an environment of cooperation between both the supply (from where the money is laundered) and demand (where the money is shipped to) countries to put an end to money laundering.

"There are syndicates of experts in different countries to help with the repatriation of laundered money. Because of that we are hearing about an ex-minister owning a few hundred apartments in several countries around the world. However, this incident is only the tip of the iceberg and there are many others just like him," he added.  

Iftekharuzzaman continued that institutions like the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), CID, NBR, Office of the Attorney General, and BFIU have clear guidelines on the issue of money laundering.

However, necessary reforms have to be brought into these institutions and just words will not be adequate here. Quite a few laws are also required for the prevention of money laundering. Besides, an active participation from the common public is essential to stop corruption, he believes.    

Emeritus professor at Western Sydney University, Anisuzzaman Chowdhury presented the key note at the seminar. He said that initiatives have to be taken to repatriate the laundered money and emphasis must be given to ensuring justice for the financial criminals now.

By taking these initiatives, it would be possible to recover at least some portions of the laundered money if not all of it. This way, people will be careful not to launder money out of the country in future.

Anisuzzaman Chowdhury also said that money has been taken out of the country both through illegal money transfer and through laundering. And in case of foreign trade, money is laundered out of the country in illegal ways through invoice fraud. It is estimated that about 100 billion or 10,000 crore of dollars have been shipped out of the country this way.

Anisuzzaman Chowdhury raised question about the loans sanctioned from different foreign agencies including IMF during the regime of former Awami League government.

He said that it’s necessary to raise the question why did IMF allocate loans to the then government despite being aware of the facts that the government didn’t have political legitimacy and the loan money wouldn’t come to any help of the public.

The funds from these loans have not just been misappropriated but the government brought arms and explosives with that and then used them against the general public also.

He called for an independent investigation under the supervision of the United Nations in cases of all the loans that have been taken from different sources and spent during the last government’s term.

Economist Naeem Chowdhury said that the largest bank in Bangladesh, Islami Bank had been hijacked. How can investments be attracted in this situation? Before everything else, there has to be a change of mindset in order to recover the laundered money.

Former vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, professor Jasim Uddin Ahmed said that if the influential people become successful in taking out the laundered money that would not set a good example for future. So, the launderers have to be identified distinctively, the trial procedure has to be started and the issue of money laundering has to be represented with even more emphasis on the international level.

The speakers at the seminar mainly blamed the Bangladesh Bank for the way country’s banking sector has been pushed to the edge. In the current situation, there’s no alternative to bringing fundamental reforms to these institutions and to reorganising them from scratch.