UNB, Dhaka :
The Cabinet on Monday approved the draft of the Money Laundering Prevention (amendment) Bill, 2015 allowing the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to deal with and investigate corruption-related cases.
The approval was given at the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the proposed amendments to the existing Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012 were brought to make the existing law more effective. Under the proposed amendments, the Cabinet Secretary said, the ACC will investigate only the corruption- and bribery-related cases while other agencies like the Police, the Customs Department or the Department of Narcotics Control would deal with other offenses like cheating, forgery, document forgery, illegal arms trade, drugs trade, abduction, since the proposed amendments have given them the direct authority.
The proposed amendment to the law also kept provision for having joint investigative team involving the police, the NBR or the Narcotics
Control Department since the issue of money laundering is often very complex.
Besides, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has been empowered as it would have the operational autonomy or functional independence under the Bangladesh Bank and its head would be appointed by the government with the rank of a Deputy Governor through a search committee where the governor would also remain in the committee.
The Cabinet on Monday approved the draft of the Money Laundering Prevention (amendment) Bill, 2015 allowing the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to deal with and investigate corruption-related cases.
The approval was given at the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the proposed amendments to the existing Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012 were brought to make the existing law more effective. Under the proposed amendments, the Cabinet Secretary said, the ACC will investigate only the corruption- and bribery-related cases while other agencies like the Police, the Customs Department or the Department of Narcotics Control would deal with other offenses like cheating, forgery, document forgery, illegal arms trade, drugs trade, abduction, since the proposed amendments have given them the direct authority.
The proposed amendment to the law also kept provision for having joint investigative team involving the police, the NBR or the Narcotics
Control Department since the issue of money laundering is often very complex.
Besides, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has been empowered as it would have the operational autonomy or functional independence under the Bangladesh Bank and its head would be appointed by the government with the rank of a Deputy Governor through a search committee where the governor would also remain in the committee.
