Staff Reporter :
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case on Wednesday against 21 officials and employees of four banks and two officials of money exchange houses at Hazarat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on charges of buying and selling foreign currencies illegally and laundering money belonging to expatriate workers back home.
Syed Nazrul Islam, a deputy director of the ACC, filed the case with its integrated district office in Dhaka-1, said ACC secretary Khorsheda Yasmeen.
She said that an enforcement operation was conducted by a four-member ACC team at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on February 5 after receiving a complaint regarding the transaction of illegal foreign currency buying and selling and smuggling abroad.
The accused are Janata Bank senior principal officer Anwar Parvej, principal officers Shamim Ahmed and Md Ashiquzzman, senior officers Suruj Jamal, Amit Chandra Dey, Md Manik Mia, Sadiq Iqbal, Sujan Ali, and Humayun Kabir.
The accused people also include Sonali Bank senior officers Shoriful Islam Bhuyain, Shorba Uddin Khan, Sabuj Mir, Khan Ashiqur Rahman, ABM Sajjad Haider, Kamrul Islam, Samiul Islam Khan, and its supporting staff, Md. Mosharaf Hossain.
Mutual Trust Bank Limited officer Abu Tarek Prodhan, Agrani Bank senior officer Abdur Razzak, Avia Money Changer customer service manager Md Asadul Hossain, and Imperial Money Exchange managing director KM Kabir Ahmed were also accused in the case.
Khorsheda Yasmeen said that preliminary evidence had been found against the accused people.
She said, ‘They collect foreign currencies illegally from expatriates who come from abroad and supply currency to corrupt people who launder money.’
She further said that the ACC team investigated the activities of various commercial bank booths and money changer companies located at the airport during their operation.”
“At this time, the ACC team has seen that the responsible officials of the banks and money changers are conspiring with each other by creating fake vouchers in a dishonest way, buying foreign currency from passengers coming from abroad, and selling it illegally in the black market without entering the banking channel,” added Yasmeen.
As a result, the information revealed that an adverse situation is being created in the financial sector of the country by damaging the valuable foreign currency reserves. Later, in light of the report of the raiding, the ACC team started a public inquiry.
