Tackling serious financial crimes
We have grown accustomed to seeing news reports detailing serious financial crimes such as money laundering and gross irregularities in the sanctioning of loans. The Daily Star recently published a report titled “Crescent curse over Janata,” detailing how the Crescent Group allegedly laundered about Tk 1,297 crore against 657 fake export bills.
This is not an isolated case. A Bangladesh Bank report showed that at present, 7 percent of all Letters of Credit (LCs) remain mysteriously unsettled with no bill of entry submitted. In addition to that, as the Global Financial Integrity reported, illicit financial transaction or financial outflow stood at 12-17 percent of Bangladesh's total trade from 2005 to 2014.
This is one of the many problems our banking sector has been plagued with for years. Yet, we haven't seen any of the really powerful individuals accused of being involved in these irregularities being brought to justice.
In the abovementioned case, Janata Bank was repeatedly warned and served with a show-cause notice—for making advanced payment against the LCs of certain firms—by the Bangladesh Bank. The bank, however, did not care to pay heed to the warning, and it didn't have to face any consequences either.
If the banking sector is regulated in such a way, we are afraid that these financial crimes will continue unabated.
Abdul Aziz, Jagannath University
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