Money Launderers: Give their details by March 30

The High Court yesterday wanted to know the names, addresses and current status of Bangladeshis who deposited laundered money to overseas banks and enquired what steps had been taken against them.

The court asked the authorities and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to provide by March 30 the details of such individuals and organisations and a report on what actions they had faced.

In response to a writ petition, the HC issued a rule, asking the authorities to explain in four weeks why their inaction to recover the money laundered from the country and deposited with foreign banks, including the ones in Switzerland should not be declared illegal.

The court asked the authorities to show causes as to why they should not be ordered to form a special investigation team to find out Bangladeshi nationals' illegal money in foreign banks.

At the same time, the HC ordered the government to explain why it should not be recommended to reform the relevant laws in order to easily recover the huge amounts laundered out of the country.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Mohi Uddin Shamim came up with the order and rule after hearing a writ petition filed over the issue.

The bench fixed March 30 for the next hearing on the issue.

During the hearing, one of the petitioners Abdul Qaium Khan told the court that money laundering had gone up at an alarming rate in recent years.

Names of different Bangladeshi individuals and companies have reportedly been published in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers for depositing large amounts of money with overseas banks.

But no enquiry was made to look into the allegations, said lawyer Abdul Qaium.

The ACC, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, and other authorities concerned have failed miserably to prevent money laundering and to bring the money back to the country, the lawyer argued.

He said 426 Indian citizens and companies were named in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers and it was subsequently reported that they faced investigations.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said the name of Abdul Awal Mintoo, owner of a Bangladeshi company, was mentioned in the Panama Papers and an enquiry was being conducted by the ACC.

He also said the ACC and government were working on bringing back the laundered money and were framing a work plan to this effect.

Lawyers Qaium and Subir Nandi Das filed the writ petition with the HC as a public interest litigation on February 1, seeking its directive on the authorities to take steps to bring back the money that Bangladeshi nationals and organisations laundered abroad and deposited with foreign banks, including Swiss ones.

In the petition, they prayed to the HC for an order to constitute a special investigation team to find out Bangladeshi nationals' illegal money deposited to foreign banks.