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By the end of September 2022, Bangladesh’s foreign reserves dwindled, forcing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to seek budget support of around $4.7 billion.
Around the same time, the British newspaper The Financial Times was preparing one story with a Bangladeshi watch collector, Ahmed Rahman. Ahmed Rahman is the cousin from Salman F. Rahman, who used to be a powerful advisor to Sheikh Hasina. Salman is now in custody.
The story published in The Financial Times pointed out that, apart from expensive watches, Ahmed’s family owns numerous properties in Britain worth millions of dollars. Another news site, Netra News, previously published that Sheikh Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana lives in one of the houses owned by the Rahman family in Britain
How Ahmed and his family transferred this large amount of money to Britain remains a mystery, as Bangladeshi law limits the amount of money sent abroad.
However, it is well known that the ruling elites under Hasina’s Awami League-led regime in Bangladesh used many shady methods to move money abroad. For example, according to Al Jazeera research agency, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, a former minister of lands in the Hasina government, whose global wealth portfolio amounts to more than $500 million, transferred most of its money from Bangladesh.
With the resignation of Hasina and the departure of the AL government, a new interim government led by Mohammad Yunus has taken over. This government must return Bangladesh’s stolen assets.
Yunus’ government has already taken some bold steps to revive the economy. For example, it is implementing financial sector reforms by reshuffling the boards of controversial banks and seeking debt support from the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Despite these efforts, Bangladesh’s treasury remains under pressure.
Therefore, in addition to seeking loans, the interim government should explore options to repatriate the laundered money, which will not only stimulate the economy but also help reduce the debt burden.
There are four ways through which Bangladesh can get back its stolen property.
Firstly, Bangladesh is part of the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR), a partnership between the World Bank Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), but has yet to realize its full potential as it has Hasina regime used this as a support measure. a tool to harass opposition leaders instead of using it to get the assets back. Under this initiative, the British government has helped Bangladesh recover approximately $1.5 million.
Second, the interim government can work with other governments to impose targeted sanctions on suspected money launderers and freeze their assets, forcing them to return to Bangladesh and surrender.
Third, the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) could be a game changer if the laundered money is invested in or traded through the US financial systems. Bangladesh can learn from FIFA’s corruption scandals and use the knowledge to target Bangladeshi citizens accused of corruption and now living in the US. A notable example is Manmath Ranjan Baroian aide to former Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, who was accused of corruption and fled to the US in April 2020. Another is ex-land minister Saifuzzaman, who reportedly invested in the US., according to Bloomberg.
Finally, Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) should work with the governments of countries considered targets for money laundering by Hasina’s accomplices and improve the exchange of financial intelligence on the suspected individuals. As an immediate step, partnerships between governments should be established regarding legal assistance to prevent money laundering and repatriate funds, especially with the US, UK, Canada, United Arab Emirates and Singapore, which are known as popular destinations for money launderers.
While Bangladesh must take action and move quickly to explore options and build global partnerships, governments in the West, the Middle East and Southeast Asia must also cooperate and show goodwill in helping Bangladesh to launder the get money back.