Efforts to recover laundered assets to continue: governor

The laundered assets recovery process, launched during the interim government’s tenure, will continue, said Md Mostaqur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB).

He made the statement during a meeting between representatives of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) and the central bank yesterday at the BB headquarters.

The meeting was called to discuss the ongoing initiative to recover assets illicitly transferred abroad. The governor presided over the meeting where managing directors and focal officers of the concerned banks were present.

Representatives from 37 banks attended the meeting.

The BB governor said the recovery of laundered money would not stop due to any political pressure, officials of the central bank who attended the meeting told The Daily Star.

The governor asked banks to speed up the process and sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with global litigation firms as soon as possible, they added.

He also asked banks to provide data to the global litigation firms to accelerate the process.

After the meeting, Mashrur Arefin, chairman of the ABB and managing director of The City Bank, told journalists that banks accused of facilitating money laundering had already hired eight to ten international law firms to pursue cases in foreign courts.

According to legal experts, it typically takes three to five years to recover laundered funds due to the lengthy legal procedures involved, he said.

“However, ABB remains hopeful that the funds can be brought back through proper legal processes,” Arefin added.

Farhanul Gani Choudhury, consultant to the asset recovery task force, presented a progress report on the laundered asset recovery process at the meeting.

A month after the fall of the Awami League-led government, the inter-agency task force on stolen asset recovery and management was restructured as part of the interim government’s commitment to recovering money siphoned off abroad.

The BB governor has been appointed chairman of the task force.

Its members include representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Financial Institutions Division, Law and Justice Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Primarily, the task force took initiatives to recover money allegedly laundered by 10 major business groups, including family members of the ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.

Members of the task force said that around a dozen local banks have signed non-disclosure agreements with eight international litigation firms to recover laundered assets from major business groups.

United Commercial Bank, Janata Bank, National Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Agrani Bank, AB Bank, and Islami Bank Bangladesh, among others, have signed the agreements with the law firms.

The global law and litigation firms engaged are Kroll, R1 Consortium, Interpath, Dentons/EY, DLA Piper/Unitas Global, PwC/Baker McKenzie, Omni Bridgeway, and Grant Thornton.