Bangladesh Bank Gov. Ahsan H. Mansur is seeking help from the U.K. to recover assets allegedly stolen from the South Asian nation that are now being kept in the U.K. (Nikkei montage)
Dhaka is reaching out to the U.K., hoping to persuade it to impose financial and travel sanctions on individuals who have allegedly laundered billions of dollars from Bangladesh and left them in the U.K., the U.S., Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands.
According to the plan, Bangladesh Bank Gov. Ahsan H. Mansur was scheduled to meet with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in London on Monday, seeking its support to encourage the U.K. government to take actions against 11 Bangladeshi business groups in order to quickly retrieve the allegedly siphoned money.
At the meeting at Portcullis House, Mansur told members of the U.K. Parliament that a handful of business magnates directly syphoned $20 billion to $25 billion out of Bangladesh’s banking system.
“The U.K. is the first country we would like to get help from … If something positive happens in the U.K.’s legal system, there are global ramifications,” the governor said.
He also sought the British government’s support in lobbying other countries to do the same.
During the visit, Mansur and his team also plan to meet with the U.K. Foreign Office, the National Crime Agency and the current and former justice secretaries. On Wednesday, he will hold a conference with international law firms and law enforcement agencies.
The interim government has not disclosed the names of the 11 groups whose assets it is trying to seize. But according to senior officials investigating alleged money laundering, they include former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, owner of Aramit Group, a building materials company; Mohammed Saiful Alam, chairman of conglomerate S. Alam Group; Nazrul Islam Mazumder, founder of NASSA Group, which has businesses in garments and banking, among others.
Press secretary Shafiqul Alam said the interim government would draft a special law soon to expedite repartition of stolen assets.
Last week, at a meeting to finalize the road map, central bank Gov. Mansur sounded hopeful that he would be able to persuade the U.K. to impose sanctions on the alleged Bangladeshi money launderers within three to six months. “Bangladesh Bank has compiled cases on money launderers, including at least 150 Bangladeshi lawmakers of Sheikh Hasina’s AL (Awami League) regime to proceed into recovery,” Mansur told Nikkei Asia.
In 2010 and 2015, Bangladesh returned stolen assets totaling more than $1.5 million at the request of the British government under the World Bank’s Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR).
It also returned to the U.K. stolen assets worth 230 million taka ($1.89 million under the current exchange rate) from former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s son, Arafat Rahman Koko, in 2007.
“Bangladesh has twice returned assets to the U.K., now it’s our turn to get back stolen assets from the U.K.,” Mansur said.
Under the road map, the next step will come in May. The Bangladeshi central bank will co-organize the Bangladesh Asset Recovery conference in London in collaboration with the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre (IACCC), which operates under the U.K.’s National Crime Agency, and the World Bank’s StAR.
By the end of this year, Bangladesh hopes to recover at least 50% of the assets in 11 priority cases, freeze all assets of the 11 business groups and establish an asset recovery agency.
“Bangladesh will appoint a private law firm to file civil lawsuits against alleged midsize money launderers [accused of stealing money ranging from $16.39 million to $40.98 million], while the government will launch criminal proceedings against tycoons [accused of] stealing larger amounts, the governor said.
“Once we get back the money, Bangladesh will compensate bank depositors who have lost their savings to money launderers, while for nonbank’s asset recovery, the amount will be spent on the welfare of commoners,” Mansur added.
The article appeared in the asia.nikkei