How Bangladesh returns stolen asset, how to recover its own

Bangladesh has twice returned stolen asset to the UK under a UN model following detection and requests from London and this modality can also apply to bid for repatriating its own laundered wealth, experts say.

The then Bangladesh government returned stolen assets worth about US$ 1.5 million (USD 1,588,087.68 or Tk 190 million in current exchange rate) to the UK in two separate cases, in 2010 and 2015.

An FE investigation has unearthed the return of stolen assets years ago, which remained cloaked in secrecy so far.

Returning assets opened a channel which Bangladesh can explore now to bring back stolen assets from the UK and Singapore. It may expedite the interim government's desperate efforts to recover the assets that rendered the country's banking sector fragile.

Such experiences show the ways for bringing back stolen assets from other countries, too, but Bangladesh needs to trace where those have flown to.

The money has been returned through Bangladesh Bank (BB) to the United Kingdom following court proceedings under the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) model of the United Nations.

The StAR is a joint initiative of the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), started in 2007, that supports international efforts to end safe havens for corrupt funds and to facilitate the return of stolen assets to their countries of origin.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) estimates around Tk 265 billion or $ 3.1 billion being laundered from Bangladesh every year while the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) says Tk 922 billion laundered only from the banking sector since 2008.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB), says as the StAR initiative proves successful in return of the money, the government can try for it for other suspected persons in recent times.

Former Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman, who was in charge at the time, said the example of sending back stolen assets to the UK would help Bangladesh to claim the same for recovering siphoned-off money.

Distinguished fellow of the CPD Professor Mustafizur Rahman says the ACC should launch a move to recover stolen assets of the persons already under its MLA action.

"If needed, Bangladesh should appoint foreign consultants having legal expertise on paper tail to find out and help Bangladesh claim the forgone asset that is usually siphoned in layers opening shell companies," he adds.

Former lead economist at the World Bank's Dhaka office Dr Zahid Hussain explains that StAR initiatives support a government to locate stolen assets and claim that from a UN-member country.

"The interim government would be able to take action to recover money without political considerations on the basis of the gravity of the offences," he suggests.

Since 2007, the government has been able to bring back Tk 230 million from Singapore in five cases filed against BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's younger son, Arafat Rahman Koko, through the StAR passageway.

On the contrary, Bangladesh has sent back US$ 1.3 million in one case of Robin Chowdhury and US$ 0.2 million in case of Faruk Ahmed, both expatriate Bangladeshis, StAR data revealed.

Bangladesh Bank officials say the money has been returned as per Mutual Legal Assistance request and also under the legal basis of Harare Declaration.

The Harare Declaration pledges the Commonwealth countries to work to protect and promote the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth, including democracy, the rule of law, fundamental human rights, universal access to education, sustainable development and the alleviation of poverty.

A senior official of the BB has said UK Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch had sought the laundered money back from Bangladesh in both cases.

In an investigation both in Bangladesh and from the sources in the UK, the FE correspondent found Robin Chowdhury, a law-firm boss, and Faruk Ahmed, a travel agent, having sent money into Bangladesh in a bid to escape UK's detective and metropolitan police scrutiny.

Both Mohamad Faruk Ahmed and Robin Chowdhury were jailed in the United Kingdom.

The Faruk case states Mohammad Faruk Ahmed, jailed for five years in 2009, had tricked spending large sums of the money-- meant for the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca--in casino and betting shops, according to BBC UK news on July 10, 2009.

According to British media, Mr Faruk conned around 300 people in London's east end, many of whom devoted their life savings to the 2008 Hajj pilgrimage.

The BB official, preferring anonymity, said the UK had sought the asset back from Bangladesh to return the swindled money to those victims in the Bangladeshi community in the UK.

The story of con trick runs like this: Ahmed, who resided in Brick Lane in the UK, was running a travel agency Named 'Qibla Hajj Kafela Services in the UK. He had assured those 300 Muslims of arranging Hajj trips at cheaper cost by taking euro 2000 per person, but he fled abroad with the money.

On November 30, 2008, Hasanat Hussain, Member of the order of the British Empire and convener of 'Voice of Justice', wrote a letter to Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, currently Finance Adviser and then Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor, seeking advice as to how to get the money back quickly for victims.

Episode of Robin Chowdhury: The Financial Times (FT) adviser on April 18, 2013 cited Prosecutor John Traversi on Robin Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi expatriate in the UK, on funneling vast sums of money to relatives and buying millions of pounds worth of shares with the proceeds of 13 fraudulent mortgages.

The UK court trial found that Chowdhury, a law-firm boss, fled to Bangladesh before the scam was uncovered. Robin, posed as disabled-friend in a 5.7 -million loan scam, faced jail for eight years on April 12, 2013.

What Bangladesh did under StAR: A total of ten cases have been initiated to bring back and send back stolen assets in Bangladesh until 2024.

However, none of the suspects, except for BNP leaders and lawmakers, has been accused under the initiative since 2007.

Though there are several cases like PK Halder and Abdul Hye Bacchu that are under investigation for money laundering, the past government had not tried to recover the swindled money from abroad under StAR, despite proving the initiative successful.

Recovery of Koko's money from Singapore was under the initiative where nearly Tk 230 million came back to Bangladesh. However, the Singapore court sent back the money on condition for not having such formal bilateral arrangements for return of assets, following the Anti-Corruption Commission's promise to use the money for checking corruption.

Later, the ACC deposited the money with the Ministry of Finance despite the court's condition, sources in the ACC told the FE correspondent.

Under the StAR, the now-deposed government of Hasina had also filed cases against businessman Giasuddin Al Mamun, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and M Morshed Khan, two former ministers in the BNP government.

It comes out clear that all of the cases to bring back siphoned money were filed "on political considerations" while big fishes were roaming around with allegations of involvement in capital flight is making country's banking system fragile.

Former Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed, who was Commissioner in the ACC, says: "The interim government can bring back stolen money as it has no political agenda, but needs enough time."

He, however, finds the asset- recovery process too complex and lengthy as most of the money has been siphoned off to developed countries having different legal structures.

On Wednesday, the BB governor reiterated his intension to bring back stolen assets from other countries.

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