Massive illegal funds abroad unearthed
Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh has so far traced nearly Tk40,000 crore worth of assets abroad believed to have been acquired using illegally transferred funds, the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing reported on Sunday.
The findings emerged from investigations conducted by the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) Central Intelligence Cell (CIC). CIC Director General Ahsan Habib said the probe began in January this year and involved inspections in seven cities across five countries.
“After collecting information domestically, CIC teams visited foreign jurisdictions, examined records, and inspected properties to gather evidence,” Habib explained.
The results were presented to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna by CIC officials and NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan.
Investigators also discovered that 352 Bangladeshis obtained foreign passports through “citizenship-for-investment” schemes in nine countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, North Macedonia, Malta, St Lucia, and Turkey.
“So far, we have identified 346 properties abroad in the names of individuals and organisations involved in money laundering,” Habib said. “This is only a partial picture; much more remains to be uncovered.”
He added that the CIC is working to confiscate the assets and bring the responsible parties to justice, with the cooperation of more than six international organisations.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Habib noted. “We have additional data that will take time to fully reveal.” The CIC chief also highlighted that during the previous government’s tenure, those involved in money laundering manipulated the central bank’s database to erase significant information. “The positive development is that our teams now possess the technical expertise to recover much of the deleted data,” he added.
The investigation marks one of the largest efforts by Bangladesh to track and repatriate illegally transferred funds, signalling a more proactive approach to tackling international money laundering.