It has been revealed that $17 billion has disappeared from the accounts of businessmen close to former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid. Central Bank Governor Ahsan Mansoor has said that the services of three ‘Big Four’ accounting firms EY, Deloitte and KPMG have been hired to audit the banks to trace this amount.
According to sources of The INQUIRER, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit has also formed 11 joint investigation teams to trace the assets purchased with funds withdrawn from the banks and to enable their recovery and help in legal action against those responsible.
EY and Deloitte did not respond to a request for comment due to the end of regular business hours. Attempts to contact KPMG for comment through the website were unsuccessful.
Ahsan Mansoor, who was appointed central bank governor by interim government leader Muhammad Yunus after Sheikh Hasina fled to India in August, told the Financial Times that the investigation would examine 10 prominent Bangladeshi businesses, as well as the ousted former leader and his relatives.
11 JITs were formed to probe the matter:
Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Ahsan Mansoor has been tasked with helping to stabilize Bangladesh’s economy.
According to the sources the central bank governor is also starting the process of recovering at least 2 trillion taka ($16.46 billion) taken from banks during the 15 years that Hasina and her Awami League party were in power.
Banks taken into custody:
Ahsan Mansoor said that several well-known banks have been taken into custody with the help of the country’s military intelligence agency, in some cases the banks had to be taken into custody ‘at gunpoint’, the quality of the assets of 6 banks being reviewed, of which 5 are owned by the S Alam Group, headed by Singapore-based Bangladeshi tycoon Mohammad Saif Alam.
Central Bank Governor Ahsan Mansoor said that as part of this investigation, the former MDs of these banks have been asked to take leave of absence not to hinder the quality of the examination and interfere with the assessment of the assets.
Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission had filed a case of embezzlement of 11.3 billion taka against several people, including two of Saif Alam’s sons, and a Dhaka court has ordered the seizure of several properties in the case.
Saif Alam’s lawyer, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart and Sullivan, said he and the group’s investors “have done nothing wrong, and if necessary, are prepared to take legal action to protect their investments in Bangladesh.”
Quinn Emmanuel said Alam and the group’s investors welcomed transparency and the application of international standards, but Ahsan Mansoor’s position as the main driving force behind the Yunus government’s task force on banking sector reforms was contradictory.
Saif al-Alam’s lawyers wrote to Muhammad Yunus last month warning him they were ready to initiate international arbitration if he could not resolve his dispute with Dhaka, with his lawyers saying the money laundering and other allegations against Saif al-Alam and his family were “baseless”.
Seeking international help:
The Yunus government has sought international help in its efforts to trace and recover the money taken out of the country, including from the UK’s International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre and the US Treasury Department.
The Treasury Department is offering technical assistance to Yunus’s advisers, as Bangladesh prepares to make formal requests for legal assistance from other countries.
