Government’s genuine commitment alone can stop money laundering

Sometimes the people of Bangladesh tend to forget a horrible incident because it gets overshadowed by even worse incidents that happen one after the other. The result is that our reactions to all these events gets dulled.

The current government came to power by declaring war against corruption. There is no need to analyse its implementation. From the beginning of 2019, the policymakers of the ruling party announced a campaign to catch the corrupt and money launderers. The casino scandal began to unfold in September of that year. It saw the arrest of some low-level leaders of the ruling party and some people who were sheltered by prominent names. Hundreds of crores were smuggled by that circle, and all the sordid details came to light. Many believed that tougher steps would finally be taken this time! However, in a short time, all that hype died down and no one noticed.

But the questions remain. For instance, how much money was recovered? Moreover, where did all this money end up? According to the media reports, there were several big names involved (behind the scenes), who are they? How were illegal activities like these casino operations going on for so long under the noses of the law enforcement agencies? Were the statements made by the policymakers in the parliament during the casino scandal just a matter of uttering some words, or did something change because of it? No answer was given to the public.

Then, as usual, everything calmed down. Suddenly, the Kuwaiti government dug up the massive illegal financial activities of Shahidul Islam Papul, a ruling party MP, in late 2020 and January 2021, and he was arrested and imprisoned. In January this year, it was revealed that PK Haldar, the managing director of a bank and financial institution, had smuggled thousands of crores of taka from banks and financial institutions abroad.

Most notably, a culture of impunity or dispensation has been established in Bangladesh with the help of political affiliation, involvement, or circle of influence, where nothing will happen if the perpetrator belongs in that circle, as the general public believes. The entire administration, including law enforcers, also took advantage of this. A notion has also been established that the law is always for the general public, not for those born into society's "extraordinary" class.

No matter which government comes to power, they always declare that they are against corruption in their speeches and statements and immediately announce strict anti-corruption measures. Even after the fall of the dictator General Ershad, the three alliances made such an announcement.

Money laundering is a significant topic of discussion in Bangladesh at present. However, this isn't something new. According to the US-based Global Financial Integrity (GFI), an average of USD 7.53 billion, or more than Tk 64,000 crore, is laundered out of Bangladesh every year—and that is only trade-based money laundering. No one has an accurate estimate of how much money in total is being laundered from Bangladesh every year. However, analysts believe that the overall amount of money laundered is many times more than what is laundered through just trade. According to UNCTAD, about 36 percent of Bangladesh's revenue is smuggled abroad every year. According to another GFI report, around USD 11.53 billion was laundered from Bangladesh in 2015 alone. Although at least five state institutions are working to prevent money laundering in Bangladesh, no accurate information on money laundering can be found from them. But there is some information available on money laundering—for example, many people know about the scandals surrounding the "Begumpara" in Canada and "second homes" in Malaysia.

In late 2020, information was provided by a Canadian state organisation that 28 Bangladeshis had homes in Begumpara, Canada. On November 16, 2020, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told the media, "Initially, we have found some truth. Of the 28 incidents, most were government employees. It was thought the number of politicians would be more. However, it turned out that there are only four politicians and the rest are government employees and others." In this regard, the High Court, on November 22, 2020, issued instructions to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and other concerned agencies to find out who the government officials were. However, the ACC informed the court that their names could not be disclosed even if the information was obtained due to agreements with various international organisations. It is still unknown what happened to the court order. Meanwhile, the Malaysian authorities have given a list of 36 Bangladeshis, including 15 politicians, who made Malaysia their second home, to the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Nevertheless, on June 7 this year, the finance minister told parliament, "If you know the names of the money launderers, give them to us. It will be easier to take action against money launderers if the money launderers cooperate with that information." This statement is not surprising.

In the same vein, on June 9 this year, the foreign secretary told the media that as there were no laws, it was not within the jurisdiction of the foreign ministry to collect information on the money laundered to Bangladesh through embassies.

On June 15, the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission said that money launderers could not be caught due to a lack of specific information.

On June 12, the health minister told the media that money from other sectors, not health, had gone to Canada. At present, five state institutions including the ACC are working to prevent money laundering. However, there is a lack of coordination among these organisations. And there is no official instruction to specify work or outline for coordination among these organisations.

Many people talk about good governance in the banking sector—former adviser to the caretaker government Dr Mirza Azizul Islam told the media on July 6, "There is a lack of good governance in the banking sector. Those who are not supposed to get loans in illegal cooperation with the people inside the bank are getting loans. Eventually, money is smuggled abroad or laundered. There is currently no penalty for snatching bank money; they get rewarded." Good governance in the banking sector can only be ensured when the government actually keeps its promise on fighting corruption. However, as long as the government does not show genuine commitment, money laundering will not stop. The situation is such that what is being said on preventing money laundering is nothing more than empty words. There is no one to stop the smuggling of people's money abroad and that is what's most unfortunate for the country and its ordinary people.

Amir Khasru is the Chief Executive, Study Group on Regional Affairs, Dhaka.

Email: akhasru1964@gmail.com