Economical Desk:
The money seized from loot will be used for welfare fund: Governor
The government has taken the initiative to form a special fund to manage money and assets embezzled from the country through looting and corruption. From this fund, the money of the affected banks and depositors will be returned and a part will be spent on supporting the welfare of the poor people. Everything will be done through legal process, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur.
The Governor gave this information at a press conference organized at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Monday (May 19). The press secretary of the chief advisor Shafiqul Alam and the head of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) AFM Shahinul Islam were present at the time.
The Governor said that work is underway to form a separate fund to manage the confiscated money and blocked shares of the looters. This money has already come under the control of the government. In addition to returning the money to the banks and depositors concerned, this fund will also be spent on the development of the poor.
Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said that currently immovable property seized in the country is 130,758 crore taka and immovable property is 42,614 crore taka, foreign currency seized is 164 million dollars, in addition to 125 cases worth more than 200 crore taka have been identified, the work of which is still ongoing.
At the press conference, the governor said that the value of the assets seized by S Alam Group in Islami Bank could be 12 to 15 thousand crore taka. These will be transferred to a strategic investor. The seized money will be used to compensate depositors.
The money seized from loot will be used for welfare fund: Governor
The governor said that the mobile financial service ‘Nagad’ has created more than 650 crore taka of e-money through corruption and has defrauded more than 2 thousand crore taka of allowances. He warned that although there is still a risk of their corruption, there is no possibility of major new losses. However, he commented that they can erase the evidence of their misdeeds.
Regarding the return of laundered money, the governor said, “Although we do not have experience, six months of training are already underway and work is progressing with the help of a foreign trainer for the joint investigation team. The UK, USA, Canada, UAE and Singapore have assured cooperation.” He also said that if proper evidence is found, the launderers can also lose their citizenship of those countries.
It was informed at the press conference that the government is preparing to implement the ‘Bank Resolution Act’ to ensure good governance in the banking sector. Although it is not possible to do everything at once, the governor said that it will be done step by step according to the capacity.
