By Staff Correspondent, Dhaka – Bangladeshi investigators have discovered assets worth approximately 40,000 crore taka stashed abroad, allegedly siphoned off from the country.
According to the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency, a senior official from the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) revealed the findings during a briefing with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Sunday.
CIC Director General Ahsan Habib reported that the assets were traced through searches conducted in seven cities across five countries since January this year.
The disclosure was made during a meeting at the chief adviser’s official residence in Dhaka, attended by NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan.
Additionally, investigators identified 352 passports acquired by Bangladeshis through financial transactions in nine countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, North Macedonia, Malta, Saint Lucia, and Turkey, according to him.
Habib said that after gathering initial intelligence, CIC detectives traveled to these countries to collect detailed evidence.
So far, they have traced 346 properties purchased with laundered funds from Bangladesh, registered under individuals’ or organizations’ names.
“This is only a partial picture of our investigation,” Habib told the chief adviser, adding that efforts are underway to seize these assets and bring them back to Bangladesh.
He assured that those involved in money laundering would face punishment, noting that more than six international organizations are assisting Bangladesh in the process.
“What we have found so far is just the tip of the iceberg,” Habib said. “We still have substantial information that requires more time to uncover.”
He also alleged that money launderers had erased critical data by placing their associates in control of the Central Bank Database (CBS) during Sheikh Hasina’s regime. However, the CIC has developed expertise in recovering deleted information.
Chief Adviser Yunus directed CIC officials to conduct a thorough investigation of the laundered funds and identify all individuals involved to ensure they face justice.
“An example must be set,” he emphasized, “so that no one can plunder the nation’s wealth and stash it abroad in the future.”
He called for an expanded probe into as many countries as possible and assured full government cooperation in returning Bangladesh’s assets.
