Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has promised stern action against those involved in embezzling funds in the name of digital commerce, saying the government will also take steps to recover the money.
“Some people try to swindle people by taking advantage of their bad times. They (fraudsters) will surely be punished. We haven’t sat idle. They were arrested instantly,” she said on Monday, reports bdnews24.com.
“And as they have been arrested, we will also find out where they’ve kept the money and what assets they have made,” she added.
The prime minister addressed the issue at a media briefing in Dhaka on her recent New York tour to attend the 76th United Nations General Assembly.
About a dozen e-commerce firms are under investigation in Bangladesh on charges of fraud and embezzlement of billions of takas after they failed to deliver products to customers and pay sellers. The law-enforcing agencies have arrested some owners and officials of the firms.
“The government has done whatever it can do,” Hasina said, urging journalists to expose the scams at the outset and alert the public.
“We are investigating where they kept the money or laundered it abroad. We will refund it whenever we get the money.”
Pointing to the government's efforts in bringing back some of the money laundered by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s late son Arafat Rahman Coco, she added: “We are trying to bring back more of such funds.”