In an effort to recover the money siphoned offshore from the country, the interim government is planning to sign a treaty with the British government for getting assistance from New Scotland Yard. Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) Secretary Mukhles Ur Rahman yesterday told the Daily Star about the plan. "We are working to strike a deal with the Scotland Yard for recovering the money smuggled off from the country," said the ACC secretary adding that an agreement must be signed between the two countries for the cooperation to take place.
The ACC secretary also said before signing the treaty the Bangladesh government needs to promulgate some laws giving the specific bilateral relation legality for getting regular assistance in the future. "A dialogue is on regarding various strategic issues as the matter is between two states. It is also necessary to give the effort legality to yield long-term results from such a treaty," said the ACC secretary.
A few weeks ago, while ACC Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowhdury was visiting the Scotland Yard, the British law enforcement agency assured him of its assistance in recovering the money smuggled off from Bangladesh. The idea of signing an agreement stemmed from the thought of giving a permanent shape to The Yard's assurance of giving occasional assistance to Bangladesh.
Since the drive against high profile corruption suspects had been initiated in February, the interim government repeatedly talked about recovering the huge amount of the money siphoned offshore over the years.
Replying to a question, the ACC secretary told The Daily Star, "I don't know the specific figure of the money siphoned offshore." But different government sources said between the months of April and August of this year the government had recovered more than Tk 3,315 crore of siphoned off money, more than Tk 435 crore of which were deposited to the Bangladesh Bank while the rest of it has yet to be deposited.