A news report published in a national daily on Sunday said that three government entities have failed to carry out a study to find out the amount of illicit financial flow (IFF) from Bangladesh, where money was syphoned off and how as part of the country’s efforts to contain cross-border money laundering. As per the National Strategy for Prevention of Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism, the study was scheduled to be completed by December last year. But the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), the National Board of Revenue, and the Anti-Corruption Commission were unable to initiate the investigation.
Meanwhile, a number of reports released by the Washington-based organisation Global Financial Integrity (GFI) in recent times have pinpointed Bangladesh as being among the worst affected countries by the scourge of trade-based money laundering (TBML). This means we are among the countries worst plagued by one of the biggest problems that developing countries have to deal with. Their inaction has come to the fore as the GFI on Thursday revealed that Bangladesh lost approximately $8.27 billion on an average annually between 2009 and 2018 due to money laundering.
It may be noted that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNOCD) has initiated a study on six countries, including Bangladesh, to measure the IFF-centred drug smuggling. Various organisations, including the BIBM, have taken part in the study, scheduled to complete by December next year. One of the researchers of the UNOCD study said that the study might help create a research methodology for Bangladesh. Any crime is bound to flourish when laws and regulations are not enforced and violators not held accountable. This is exactly what has been happening with money laundering in Bangladesh. Here, the perpetrators have been tied to the power structure and hence have often determined the terms that allowed them to get away with it.
