The government will enact a special law for the quick recovery of laundered money from abroad, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said on Monday.
“A special law will be enacted very soon to accelerate the process of retrieving laundered funds. You will see this law within the next week,” he stated at a briefing at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital.
“Foreign entities assisting us in recovering the money have also emphasized the need for such legislation, and we are drafting it accordingly,” he added.
Citing the White Paper on the state of the economy, Shafiqul said a total of $234 billion was siphoned off from Bangladesh between 2009 and August 5, 2023.
All the stolen money was primarily laundered to tax haven offshore countries including the US, UK, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and other countries.
On Monday, A high-level meeting Chaired by Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus decided to appoint international law firms and funders to settle 11 cases on a priority basis to recover laundered money.
The press secretary emphasised that the interim government has been proactive from the outset in retrieving laundered money. “Professor Yunus has consistently stated that this money belongs to the people of Bangladesh. Recovering it remains a top priority,” he said.
The interim government’s focus has been on devising a strategy to bring back the funds. To this end, an 11-member task force was formed last September, led by the central bank governor.
He added that the government and the task force are engaging with multiple law firms to facilitate legal assistance in the recovery process. “This law will help us formalize agreements with law firms. We have already consulted with 200 law firms, though the selection process is still underway. Through a legal framework, we will finalize agreements with around 30 firms,” he noted.
Following Eid, the Chief Adviser has scheduled another meeting on this matter, with plans to hold monthly discussions moving forward, the press secretary told reporters.
Regarding the extent of money laundering, Shafiqul Alam stated that the government is working to gather more details. “For instance, we have found that one individual sent Tk 400 crore abroad under the pretense of paying their child’s tuition fees, while the actual annual tuition cost should not exceed Tk 1 crore. This indicates that funds have been illicitly transferred under false pretenses.”
The briefing was also attended by Deputy Press Secretaries to the Chief Adviser, Abul Kalam Azad Mazumdar and Apurba Jahangir, along with Assistant Press Secretary Suchismita Tithi.
