bdnews24.com :Bangladesh Bank is investigating Bangladeshis named in the Panama Papers purportedly for using offshore entities to evade taxes. The central bank told the parliamentary standing committee on the finance ministry about the probe on Sunday.Committee President Abdur Razzak told bdnews24.com after the meeting that the panel asked the central bank to submit a report soon, listing those named in the leak by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The issue will be discussed in the panel’s next meeting, Razzak said.At least 18 Bangladeshis have been named in a Panama Papers database, published earlier in May.The ICIJ published leaked documents of law firm Mossac Fonseca, related to over 200,000 offshore companies, trusts and foundations. Leaked information of over 100,000 clients of two other such firms was also published.ICIJ had noted during the publication that there werelegitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. The consortium did not intend to suggest or imply that any persons, companies or other entities included in the leaked database had broken the law or otherwise acted improperly. The Anti-Corruption Commission has already launched an investigation into the matter. Parliamentary panel chief Razzak said it had decided to summon Arab Bangladesh Bank at the panel’s next meeting over the bank’s alleged involvement in money laundering. According to media reports, $42.54 million of loans have been laundered through an offshore unit of the bank to four firms in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. The firms are Global ME General Trading and Semat City General Trading of the UAE, and ATZ Communications PTE Limited and Yorker Holdings PTE Limited of Singapore. One of the key beneficiaries of the loan is Pacific Motors, owned by former foreign minister M Morshed Khan, who had also been a chairman of the AB Bank.A Parliament Secretariat media release on the meeting said $15.25 million of the $81 million Bangladesh Bank foreign exchange reserves hacked from Federal Reserve Bank of New York in February had so far been recovered. Bangladesh has also been assured of recovering around $16 million more, the release said. Finance Minister AMA Muhith was present among others.
