The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has seized nearly 300 bank accounts of both people and organisations since August 5 to prevent money laundering.
The central bank is optimistic about recovering the money in coordination with the task force and BFIU.
BFIU on Tuesday (October 22) said that it is actively working to trace and identify money that has been illegally transferred out of the country.
A total of 100 cases have been lodged regarding these accounts, which hold a huge amount of money, it said.
BFIU said the money in the accounts will be seized if charges of embezzlement are proven. Otherwise, the accounts will be returned to their owners.
BFIU’s deputy chief AKM Ehsan said that efforts are underway to trace the smuggled money. While the process is lengthy, he said that once the money's location is confirmed, it can be retrieved.
The central bank is optimistic about recovering the money in coordination with the task force and BFIU.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) revealed that over the past decade and a half, more than Taka 1 trillion was embezzled and laundered out of Bangladesh through just 24 loan scams involving 19 domestic banks. Meanwhile, Washington-based Global Financial Integrity Group said that on average, Tk 753.37 crore ($7.5337 billion) is laundered from Bangladesh annually.
Billions of taka are believed to have been laundered during the Awami League’s tenure since 2009. A number of its high-profile MPs and ministers are being investigated for money laundering and amassing illegal wealth at home and abroad.
