The country’s economy is suffering badly as thousands of crores of taka are being laundered through fraudulent means by corrupt individuals, which could have been invested in development purposes. According to media reports on Thursday, government officials have siphoned off in recent years a huge amount of money to Toronto, Canada, outnumbering politicians.
Silently but enormously, money has been laundered over the years to safe destinations worldwide by a section of dishonest politicians, corrupt high government officials and businessmen, who have made easy fortunes, and investing their questionable wealth abroad to ensure a secured future of their families.
At a meeting of Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Wednesday, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen expressed his surprise saying that a number of high officials have siphoned off huge money to Canada, outnumbering politicians. Referring to this information, he said the government has currently about 28 cases. Of them, only four are linked to politicians while the rest to government officials and a few businesspeople.
Such a situation is not only there in Canada, but also in Malaysia, Singapore and some other countries. He blamed some foreign countries as responsible in this regard, saying Switzerland even does not give the government information on who is depositing money in their banks. The western countries talk about transparency but they do not provide information, if sought. They follow double standards.
Relating to money laundering, the example of BASIC Bank, state-run and private banks and some non-banking financial institutions NBFIs) can be cited. PK Halder alone had laundered worth Tk 3,500 crore to Canada, which he was taken as loans from four NBFIs. He also left the country clandestinely. A number of Awami League and BNP leaders have also secured their future overseas by winning citizenship for their families through investment visas or business migration schemes out of the ill gotten money.
Indeed, how much money got laundered through various channels is not known to the central bank. A noted Washington-based research body Global Financial Integrity in its report ‘Illicit Financial Flows’ mentioned that US$61.63 billion has been laundered from Bangladesh during 2005 to 2014.
How much knowledge the Foreign Minister has about money laundering in our country is best known to him. When bureaucrats are thieves they are more clever thieves than politicians. What is known to all bureaucracy rule the country seething in corruption. The politicians so called are used as partners in corruption. Corruption is life blood of this joint venture government. What we are afraid is that such a venture when collapses it collapses in lawlessness and chaos. We see no sensible leadership to save the people from such a tragedy.
