UN convention to help Dhaka retrieve money

With the accession to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), Bangladesh will continue to get international help to recover the ill-gotten gains of corruption hidden abroad.
Officials said the recent discovery of over US$ 200 million stashed in banks in different countries by former premier Khaleda Zia's younger son Arafat Rahman Koko and a dozen other corrupt ministers and their business associates was possible because of the country having ratified the UNCAC.
The caretaker government signed and ratified the UN Convention against Corruption on February 27 last year.
UNCAC is the first legally recognised international instrument to put anti-corruption measures within a framework of regulatory agreement and laws.
Some 140 countries across the world have so far signed the convention while Bangladesh is the first country in South Asia to ratify it.
The basic purposes of this Convention are to promote and strengthen measures to prevent and combat corruption more efficiently and effectively, promote, facilitate and support international co-operation and technical assistance in the prevention of and fight against corruption including in asset recovery, promote integrity, accountability and proper management of public affairs and public property.
Under the Convention, Bangladesh will receive international assistance in investigations of and proceedings in civil and administrative matters relating to corruption. Parties are bound to render specific forms of mutual legal assistance in gathering and transferring evidence for use in court, extradite offenders and also in transfer of sentenced persons.
The Convention declares explicitly asset-recovery as "a fundamental principle of the convention".
This is an important issue for many developing countries where a high level of corruption has plundered national wealth and where resources are badly needed for reconstruction and development works.
This convention incorporates provisions for prevention and detection of transfers of illicitly acquired assets, the recovery of property, and the return and disposition of assets.
According to Transparency International, the UN Convention also raises hopes that funds transferred abroad by corrupt can be brought back to the countries from where they were looted and used for the well-being of the country and its people.
According to World Bank findings, the annual cross-border flow of proceeds from criminal activity, corruption and tax evasion is estimated at over US $1 trillion.
Bribes received by public officials from developing and transition countries are estimated to be a staggering US$ 20 million to 40 billion annually.
Bangladesh Bank sources said in order to recover stolen money Bangladesh already signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malaysia, Singapore, US and Nepal and such agreements with 30 more countries are under process.
To receive more assistance, Bangladesh also signed a deal with the United States and is already receiving support under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of the USA.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Washington Field Office is currently investigating over a dozen cases concerning Bangladeshi corruption suspects, including the alleged bribe of $3 million paid to former prime minister Khaleda Zia's son Arafat Rahman Koko.
Officials said a number of US offices like the Department of Justice, Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs and Criminal Division's Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section are involved in investigations.