$12-15b laundered annually from Bangladesh in last 15 years: TIB

Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said that it is not possible to know exactly how much money has been laundered from the country during the immediate past Awami League-led government.

Based on various incidents, it is estimated that an average of 12-15 billion dollars has been smuggled out of Bangladesh annually in the last 15 years.

The TIB chief made the comments at a seminar on laundered money and how to recover the money, held at the office of the Economic Reporters' Forum in Dhaka on Saturday.

The Executive Director of TIB said, “For a long time, Bangladesh Bank and Central Bank's financial intelligence unit Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has worked as a facilitator in corruption and money laundering. Bangladesh Bank is mainly responsible for the corruption of the country's banking sector. In the current situation, there is no alternative but to fundamentally reform and overhaul these institutions.”

ERF President Refayet Ullah Mirdha gave a welcome speech at the event moderated by Greenwatch Dhaka Editor Mustafa Kamal Majumdar.

Iftekharuzzaman said the collusion of politics, bureaucracy and business has played a fundamental role in laundered money abroad.

The change we hope to bring about in financial sector must be sustainable, he added.