Sagar Biswas :The Anti-Corruption Commission [ACC] is going to launch an extensive investigation against some highly important persons who are believed to be involved in money laundering in the name of the ‘Malaysia My Second Home [MM2H] Programme’.Already the ACC has got a list of 648 persons, including influential politicians, wealthy businessmen, retired bureaucrats, prominent physicians and members of some other lucrative professions. Of them, 13 persons have been identified as very important persons [VIPs]; sources close to the ACC said on Monday. In the meanwhile, a special three-member investigation team of the anti-corruption watchdog led by a Deputy Director has collected some sensitive information and relevant documents fromBangladesh Bank [BB], National Board of Revenue [NBR] and Intelligence Agencies in connection with the money laundering. “The investigation is going on in full swing. The investigation team has also indentified several persons who have laundered money to Malaysia in the name of MM2H programme. But I can’t disclose names of accused persons for the sake of proper investigation,” a senior ACC official told The New Nation preferring to remain anonymous. The MM2H is an international residency scheme enacted by the Government of Malaysia under its tourism ministry to allure foreigners to live in the country on a long-stay visa. In this regard, the investigators are also trying to contact with different levels of Malaysian government to get accurate picture.Not only that, the NBR is also conducting investigation into the allegation where they have categorised the MM2H applicants from 648 identified persons. Of them, 383 are politicians and 265 are businessmen, government officials, teachers and other professionals. Of the politicians, there are 287 Awami Leaguers and 96 came from BNP-Jamaat, the sources said.There is widespread allegation that accused persons exploited the given opportunity of the programme by laundering huge black money abroad. In this backdrop, the NBR is now trying to identify the residence builders in Malaysia under the MM2H programme without permission from the BB and other concerned organisations of the government. As per information provided by Malaysian government, more than 3,005 Bangladeshis have applied for MM2H programme in the last 12 years where each of them had to deposit Tk one crore in Malaysian banks for visa, and spent additional money for other purpose. According to the survey of the Global Financial Integrity (GFI), an international organisation working about money laundering, about Tk 1,28,616 crore was laundered from Bangladesh to different countries between 2002 and 2011. Certainly, the amount of money, laundered from Bangladesh, has fattened in this meantime. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has ranked third position among the top countries after China and Japan to avail the MM2H programme, according to the MM2H website. It said, 204 Bangladeshis availed second home offer in 2004, 852 in 2005, 341 in 2006, 149 in 2007, 68 in 2008, 86 in 2009, 74 in 2010, 276 in 2011, 388 in 2012, 285 in 2013, and 250 in 2014.
