Remove legal handcuffs off the ACC
The legal bindings stopping the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) from playing an effective role in preventing money laundering are counterproductive and should, therefore, be immediately removed. According to an ACC commissioner, some people in the country are involved in massive amounts of money laundering—worth crores of taka. But because of legal constraints, the ACC has been unable to do anything about it.
In 2019, the government formulated the Money Laundering Prevention Rules, which assigned particular organisations to investigate particular crimes under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012. The rules specified 27 types of money-laundering-related offences, of which the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police has been given the task to investigate 24—alone or with the National Board of Revenue (NBR), Department of Narcotics Control, and Department of Environment. The ACC has been given the sole responsibility to investigate the money laundering offences related to graft and bribery, while the NBR and Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) can probe crimes related to tax and capital markets.
If the government wants other agencies to be involved in investigating money laundering cases, that is all well and good. But why restrict the ACC's ability to also be involved in such cases? Money laundering is a huge problem for Bangladesh: according to the Global Financial Integrity, between 2008 and 2017, Bangladesh lost a staggering USD 7.53 billion per year on average to trade misinvoicing, which accounted for 17.95 percent of Bangladesh's international trade with all its trading partners during the period. And its most recent reports indicate that the amount of money being laundered has only grown. That means the government should do everything in its power to check money laundering—not restrict any of its agencies from probing into such cases.
Over the years, we have seen the government slowly infringe upon the independence of the ACC, taking away its powers to prevent and investigate various types of corruption-related cases. The over politicisation of our government agencies is already a major problem that prevents the ACC from being effective; erecting legal barriers on top of that will only turn the ACC into a toothless tiger—if it hasn't already.
We frequently hear the ruling party propagate that it has zero tolerance for corruption. But its actions often speak differently. If the government is serious about fighting corruption, it should clear the way for the ACC and other agencies that deal with corruption to do their job unhindered. At the same time, we must also point out that the legal barriers aren't the only issue preventing the ACC from doing its job. For years, its high officials have lacked the courage needed to go after people who are involved in high levels of corruption. That courage is something that the ACC must find on its own.
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