Daily illegal currency trade amounts to Tk 100cr

Bangladesh is being deprived of dollars equivalent to Tk 100 crore every day due to illegal buying and selling of foreign currency at the airport, said Mahbub Hossain, secretary of the Anti-Corruption Commission.

The ACC has found evidence that some money changers inside the airport are involved in illegal buying and selling of foreign currency worth more than Tk 100 crore every day and money laundering, he said.

Thousands of expatriate workers and travellers arrive in Bangladesh every day through the airport.

After receiving information from intelligence sources and following a specific written complaint, an enforcement operation was conducted yesterday under the supervision of the Deputy Director of the Commission Syed Nazrul Islam.

The ACC raids involved the booths of Janata, Sonali, Agrani, Mutual Trust, Pubali, Probashi Kalyan, Jamuna banks and the money changers Etiya Money Exchange and Imperial Money Exchange at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The team found the involvement of an organised syndicate of banks and money exchangers, Hossain said in a press briefing.

The bank booths and money changers buy foreign currency from the migrant workers and tourists and give them taka in return.

As per rules and regulations, they were supposed to give foreign currency encashment vouchers to the customer. But some do not adhere to it.

Subsequently, the foreign currency that technically came into Bangladesh are not added to the central bank's vaults.

The dollars are sold in the black market for those to be smuggled abroad again.

"Thus, the economic structure of the country is being damaged," Hossain said.

During the operation, the enforcement team collected primary data evidence, multiple fake vouchers and unsigned vouchers related to the purchase and sale of foreign currency by banks and money exchangers without encashment slips.

They also collected important information about the institutions and other related individuals involved in illegal foreign currency buying and selling, smuggling and black market.

The suspects and the involved bank officials are under the surveillance of the commission officials.

Information about their patronisers and associates is also being collected on the orders of the commission, Hossain said.

Further legal action will be taken according to the Commission Act and Rules in this regard.