TIB urges govt to restore ACC’s power to prevent money laundering

Staff Reporter :
The Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) urged the government to amend acts and rules that are responsible for curtailing the power the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to prevent money laundering in Bangladesh.

The graft watchdog said in a statement on Monday that the ACC is only empowered to investigate bribery and corruption out of 27 money laundering related offences because of the legal directions.
As a result, it’s unable to properly investigate money laundering. It is also failing to get convictions in corruption cases.

In such a context, the TIB demanded the curtailed powers of ACC be returned to it by bring back the relevant sections of the Money Laundering Prevention Act-2012.
Regarding this, the TIB sent a formal letter on yesterday to the concerned authorities including the cabinet division.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said in the statement that since the establishment of the ACC, TIB has been working intensively to enhance the Commission’s capacity to take effective action against corruption.

”Unfortunately, we have noticed that the specific objectives for which the ACC was established have been hampered by several legislative and administrative reforms that have curtailed the powers of the ACC,” the TIB director expressed.

The amendment of the Money Laundering Prevention Act-2012 in 2015 and 2019 not only reduced the powers of the ACC, but has created an opportunity to provide protection against the location and identity of those involved in important crimes such as money laundering, Dr Iftekharuzzaman added.
The TIB demanded the government to immediately amend the rules and schedule of the law responsible for clipping ACC’s power. It also viewed expanding the jurisdiction of the ACC is a must to prevent financial crimes in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, in 2012, the government introduced a new anti-money laundering act that specifically outlined 27 criminal offences. ACC and any other agency authorized by the ACC were designated as the investigative bodies under the new legislation.

In 2015, the Act underwent further amendments, resulting in the jurisdiction of the ACC being limited to only cases related to bribery and corruption of government officials.
The responsibility for investigating other crimes was assigned to various agencies, such as the CID, the NBR, the Department of Narcotics Control, the Department of Environment, and the BSEC, as stated in the Money Laundering Prevention Rules formulated in 2019.