ACC to sue 13 recruiting agencies

Staff Reporter :

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is set to file cases against 13 overseas recruiting agencies and 31 of their officials for allegedly embezzling Tk11.59 billion in the name of sending workers to Malaysia.

ACC Director General Md Akhter Hossain confirmed the development at the commission’s Segunbagicha office on Sunday.

With this move, a total of 25 agencies and 64 individuals now stand accused in the manpower scam, raising the misappropriated amount to Tk22.88 billion, according to the ACC.

The accused agencies include one owned by former Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) president M Shahadat Hossain Taslim.

Investigators said the suspects abused their influence in the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) to form a syndicate and collect up to five times the government-set recruitment fee of Tk78,990 from workers.

Workers were also reportedly sent outside of contracts using political influence, while additional sums were extracted through fraudulent charges for passports, health checks, and other expenses.

Earlier in March, the ACC had filed cases against 12 recruiting companies and 33 individuals for misappropriating Tk11.28 billion under similar charges.

Malaysia had stopped recruiting workers from Bangladesh in 2018 over irregularities and syndicate control.

After both nations signed a fresh agreement in December 2021, the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment capped recruitment fees at Tk78,540 in 2022.

Although 100 agencies were authorised to send workers under the new arrangement, investigators say a syndicate of 20-25 agencies soon began monopolising the process, fueling widespread corruption.