Looting under the guise of exports bleeding the national economy

WHEN the country’s macroeconomics is plagued by various crises and concerns about foreign exchange reserves continue, the news of a huge amount of money being laundered under the guise of new exports is not only worrying, rather, it is like a stab in the back of the national economy.

A recent report by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) mentions an institution, through which about 876 crore taka has been laundered abroad since 2023.

Needless to say, the repetition of such a picture of the financial sector, plagued by various upheavals, is truly shocking.

This tendency to build wealth abroad by showing prices several times lower than the actual value of exported goods, i.e., by ‘under-invoicing’, proves how fragile and porous the country’s financial supervision system is.

There is no way to avoid the questions raised about the role of a state-owned bank behind this sensational irregularity.

Even if they try to get away with it by rescheduling the loan amount or denying liability, the laundering of the country’s money abroad through banks nakedly exposes their lack of internal control and transparency.

It must be said that those who were supposed to protect the people’s deposits and look after the interests of the country, their indifference or indirect cooperation is emboldening the criminals.

As a result, only paper laws are in place to prevent such ‘trade-based money laundering’ in the guise of export earnings or sometimes the inspection report of the BFIU is not enough, rather visible and strict administrative measures are needed.

It is also the need of the hour to introduce an integrated and automated ‘price verification’ system between the NBR, Customs, and the Central Bank to prevent tax evasion and money laundering through under-invoicing or under-pricing of products.

If the same person or organisation owns import and export transactions at home and abroad, they must be brought under special surveillance.

Since the BFIU report is now in the hands of the NBR and the ACC, the investigation should be completed quickly without delay and the culprits should be brought to justice.

Like smugglers, those who have illegally built businesses and assets abroad must begin a diplomatic and legal fight to seize those assets and bring them back home through bilateral agreements.

At the same time, there is no alternative to holding accountable the dishonest officials within the banking sector who assisted in this malpractice.

In such a situation, the new government’s priority should be to restore order in foreign exchange transactions and recover laundered money.