Bangladesh Bank governor Mostaqur Rahman on Tuesday said that procedures of recovering money laundered during the Awami League-led government would continue and asked banks to make full efforts to support the recovery process.
The governor made the remarks at a meeting with the chief executive officers of banks on Tuesday, where progress and next steps in recovering money siphoned off abroad were discussed.
Top executives of 37 banks attended the meeting.
According to participants, the governor stressed that recovering laundered money was a top priority and asked banks to accelerate their efforts, including completing non-disclosure agreements with international asset recovery firms and providing necessary information to litigation teams pursuing cases abroad.
The interim government had formed 11 joint government investigation teams to probe allegations of money laundering and fraud involving ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is now in exile in India, her family and 10 business groups closely linked to them.
The groups under investigation are S Alam Group, Aramit Group owned by the family of former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, Nabil Group, Beximco Group, Nassa Group, Sikder Group, Bashundhara Group, Summit Group, Orion Group and Gemcon Group.
During the tenure of former Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur, 10 lead banks were identified that had extended the largest loans to these groups.
These lead banks were tasked with collecting information from other banks and providing necessary support to international law firms pursuing asset recovery efforts abroad.
Investigations have already led to the seizure of assets worth Tk 57,257 crore at home and abroad linked to Sheikh Hasina’s family and the 10 business groups during the previous government’s tenure.
Of the total amount, assets worth Tk 10,452 crore were traced overseas, while Tk 46,805 crore worth of assets were seized within the country.
However, no money has been brought to the country yet.
Mashrur Arefin, chairman of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh and managing director of City Bank, said after the meeting that banks accused of facilitating money laundering had already appointed eight to ten international law firms.
These firms are handling legal cases in foreign courts to trace and recover the assets, he said.
Legal experts believed that recovering laundered assets usually takes three to five years through court processes, Arefin said, adding that bankers remained hopeful the money could eventually be brought back through legal channels.
He said the governor had assured bankers that the asset recovery process would continue regardless of political changes.
These are public funds, there is no question of stopping the recovery process through political pressure or a change of government, Arefin said, quoting the governor.
The governor also asked banks to report the progress of their asset recovery efforts and to strengthen cooperation with global litigation firms involved in the process.
