Head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), Md Masud Biswas, has tendered apology to the High Court for his ‘inadvertent’ mistake in submitting a statement to the court about the information on money deposited by Bangladeshi individuals and organisations to Swiss banks.
Appearing in court on Wednesday, he said, “I am sorry for my inadvertent mistake. A draft of the statement was submitted. I pledge not to repeat the such mistake. And I have submitted the statement again following the due process of the court.”
Hearing his submission the HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat accepted his apology. However, the court warned him about stern action if the same mistake takes place in future. The BFIU chief has also been exonerated from personal appearance in the case.
Earlier on Tuesday (August 30), the High Court bench summoned the head of BFIU for not following the due process in submitting the statement.
Meanwhile, the High Court bench asked the BFIU chief to form a research cell on the money laundering issues.
It also directed the BFIU chief to submit a detailed report by October 26 this year on the steps taken to recover the money deposited by Bangladeshi individuals and entities to the banks of different countries.
The court said, “Issuing letters to different organizations and the countries is not enough for recovering the laundered money. You have to monitor it regularly. Do something and show the people. Money laundering has to be reduced at any cost.”
The court asked the BFIU chief to read an Indian Supreme Court verdict that suggested some ways on preventing money laundering and recovering laundered money.
In reply to a query of the court, the BFIU chief said that they have submitted 983 intelligence reports to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), National Board of Revenue (NBR) and other law enforcement agencies for taking action since 2017.
He further said his organization has made 644 requests to different international organizations seeking information about the money launderers of the country and did a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 79 countries over the issues.
Earlier on August 14, the BFIU said that it had sought information from the Switzerland Financial Intelligent Unit (SFIU) about 67 persons and entities since 2013 when the organisation got membership of Egmont Group.
The HC on Wednesday wanted to know on what basis the organization made the list of 67 persons and entities. But the BFIU chief could not give a satisfactory answer to the court over the issue. The court said a list made on the basis of assumption cannot be accepted by a court.
Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik appeared in the court on behalf of the BFIU chief, while lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan represented the state.
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