ACC drives against graft suspects earn criticism [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

ACC drives against graft suspects earn criticism

Local January 02, 2017

The Anti-Corruption Commission continued drives against corruption suspects amid criticism about its sincerity while names of Bangladeshis in Panama Papers and the theft of Bangladesh Bank reserve damaged the image of the country in 2016.
Anti-graft campaigners questioned sincerity of the commission as petty corruption suspects were held while big shots were not netted.
According to the commission statistics, 388 graft suspects were arrested in different parts of country in 2016 until December 19.
The drives began after its new chairman Iqbal Mahmood joined in the commission in March 2016.
Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman said that the commission failed to maintain a level playing field in the drives against graft suspects.
He urged the commission to consider that all people were equal before the law while conducting anti-graft drives.
He, however, said that the commission’s activities in the last year were welcomed by people.
He also said that the commission failed either to complete the investigation into much-talked-about BASIC Bank loan scam or to prosecute former BASIC Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu.
He also criticised a decision of the commission to exempt bank embezzlers from graft charges if they returned money to the respective banks.
He said that unless the commission reconsidered its unlawful move, it would face severe criticism.
Commission’s panel lawyer Md Khurshid Alam Khan also said that return of embezzled money proved the person had committed the crime and such person must be brought to justice.
They, nevertheless, welcomed the commission decision of opening honesty store on school premises for the students to practice honesty.
On March 15, 2016, the Criminal Investigation Department launched investigation into the theft of $101million from Bangladesh Bank account with the US Federal Reserve after the central bank filed a case on the day, nearly 40 days after the reported crime.
The central bank had not mentioned any official or any bank’s links to the crime.
The theft came to light after foreign media published news on the theft on March 7.
Central bank deputy governor Abul Quasem was fired and its governor Atiur Rahman stepped down on March 15.
The case is still under investigation.
In April 2016, the commission launched a probe into involvement of Bangladeshi people, if any, in illegal investment in offshore companies in the secretive tax haven of the British Virgin Islands.
The commission formed a three-member probe committee after one of the biggest document leaks in history snared world leaders, celebrities and sports stars in a snowballing worldwide scandal over their secretive offshore financial dealings revealed by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
The probe body is still investigating allegations against Awami League presidium member Kazi Zafarullah, and directors of some of Bangladesh’s biggest business conglomerates, including Summit, Square and United, that they own offshore companies in secretive tax haven of British Virgin Islands, said commission officials.
Kazi Zafarullah along with his wife Nilufer Zafar, also former lawmaker, reportedly became directors and shareholders of two offshore companies in July 2006.
Information about possessing offshore company ownership by those business houses contained amongst the 2.5 million electronic files leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and which have been shared with New Age.
On January 27, 2016, Transparency International published the global corruption index 2015, which showed that corruption increased in the country again in 2015.
It said that Bangladesh ranked the 13th most corrupt country, one step up amongst most corrupts.
According to the index, Bangladesh became the second most corrupt country amongst the South Asian nations while Afghanistan was the most corrupt country.