A Parliamentary watchdog on Wednesday came up with the observation that the gold adulteration at Bangladesh Bank vault revealed by Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) of the National Board of Revenue has tarnished the country’s image once again. The fault was shadowed by the government without fixing major points of the investigation. The inquiry found gold weighing almost 1000 kilograms kept in Bangladesh Bank’s vault has been adulterated while the 22-carat gold has turned into 18-carat gold as other metals were mixed with it after the central bank received gold discs and rings over a period of time.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Finance observed that CIID dug out serious discrepancies in gold management after examining 963kg of gold at the vault on the basis of random sampling. A gold discs and ring weighing 3.3 kg deposited with the BB vault two years ago were later found to be an alloy of metals. This is another major scam after an amount of $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh Bank’s Foreign Exchange Account with the Federal Reserve Bank in New York in 2016. The investigators also found that the 960 kg gold they examined was graded in the range of 20-24 carat but mentioned as 18-carat gold in the Bangladesh Bank’s record.
We are surprised that without further depth inquiry, the central bank rejected the investigation report saying that the mismatch took place due to clerical mistakes and differences in measurement. Although the economists and businesspeople demanded immediate probe into the allegations, the government overlooked their demand. Financial integrity is vital for business and economic development, but the government has been drastically failing in raising the nosedive.
Series of loan scams in state-owned banks, swindle in the top private and state-owned banks and robbing a newly opened bank–nothing has gone under legal scanner due to intervention of government.
We do appreciate the stance and role of the Parliamentary Standing Committee. Nobody can feel relaxed after tarnishing the image of the country. All the culprits should be brought to book. The time has arrived — the government must take responsibility for rampant bank looting and making the sector cripple.
