For the first time in the country's history, the government has retrieved Tk 270 crore of illegal money from seven businessmen and is expecting to recover around Tk 3,000 crore more soon. In the face of the government's anti-corruption drive conducted by the joint forces, these businessmen have paid the amount through several pay orders in local currency, banking sources said.Sources said this is also the first time the government exchequer has collected money recovered after being pilfered from the public coffers. The central bank will consider the recovered money as "non-tax revenue". Bangladesh Bank (BB) yesterday informed the finance ministry that the money has been deposited in the government account.
Meanwhile, the recovered money directly contributed to the improvement of the government's borrowing status, bringing it down to Tk 4,300 crore on Monday from Tk 4,700 crore in the first week of this month, according to BB sources. Of the seven businessmen who deposited the amount through pay-orders, the names of three could be learnt. They are Anis Ahmed Gorki of MGH Group--business partner of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's son and BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman, Nader Khan whose identity details were not available, and Salman Ispahani of the Ispahani Group. But, talking to The Daily Star, Salman Ispahani refuted the BB report, claiming that he did not deposit any money. Gorki was earlier arrested and subsequently released upon his promise to cooperate in refunding the money gained through ill means.