Business Report :
Some 102 Bangladeshi citizens have 367 overseas bank accounts in 13 countries, the highest in Canada followed by Australia and Singapore, according to a recent report.
Malaysia, the UK, the UAE, the US, and Thailand also had a significant number of Bangladeshi bank account holders.
Of the individuals, 36 have bank accounts in multiple countries.
Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and different law enforcement agencies have traced the bank accounts, suspecting Bangladeshi citizens of siphoning off money into some of the bank accounts.
The BFIU submitted the report to the High Court (HC) last year.
The HC had instructed them to prepare a report with recommendations and existing asset recovery mechanism in Bangladesh.
However, there was no progress on the report yet though it has provided intensive cross-border analysis, sources said.
Until January, 2023, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the CID, the Central Intelligence Cell of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate, the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission have suspected that around Tk2,601 crore money or assets has been siphoned off from Bangladesh into bank accounts in 18 countries until January 25, 2023, the BFIU report said.
The six entities have filed a total of 59 cases to recover the assets.
However, none of the countries responded until preparing the report by the BFIU last year.
Bangladesh has signed a total of 67 mutual legal assistance with these countries to recover the money.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) data show that less than 1 per cent of the stolen assets have been recovered globally despite several efforts.
Although Bangladeshi accounts for only 3 per cent of total deposits in Swiss bank, the government could not get the amount sent from Bangladesh, the report said.
The BFIU report, however, said many Bangladeshis have overseas business so it is not impossible to have valid bank accounts there. It is not that all money of the foreign account holders is the laundered money.”
