[🇧🇩] Corruption Watch

Whitening black money: 3 MPs slam govt for keeping the provision

Two ruling Awami League MPs and a Jatiya Party MP today in parliament criticised the government for keeping the provision of whitening the black money in the proposed budget for 2024-25 fiscal.

They are Pran Gopal Datta from Cumilla-7, former health minister Zahid Maleque from Manikganj-1, and reserved seat JP MP Nurun Nahar Begum.

"As a taxpayer I have to pay more than 30 percent tax if I have Tk 30 lakh. But the person who did not show the money last year is legitimising that undisclosed income by paying 15 percent tax. This will make the taxpayers reluctant to pay taxes," Pran Gopal Datta said.

Datta, a physician and former VC of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said, "We always talk about black and white money. But informal grey-money to tax evasion in the informal economy that is not taxed and cannot be controlled in any position."

He said the finance minister did not say anything about grey money in the budget speech.

"Grey-money is worse than undisclosed income. Money laundering cannot be stopped unless it is curtailed," Datta also said.

Often associated with activities such as tax evasion and money laundering, grey money refers to funds that are obtained via legal means but are not fully reported or taxed.

Zahid Maleque, also a former health minister, said they don't want the provision of whitening the black money in the proposed budget.

"We will have to curb corruption and tax rate to reduce black money," he added.

He said it is the while-collar people, not the low-income ones or industrialists who create black money.

Jatiya Party MP Nurun Nahar Begum said with the provision of whitening the black money, many criminals will be able to whiten black money in the country, besides laundering those abroad.​

Wealth accumulation: Heaps of stocks expose Matiur's wrongdoing



NBR official Md Matiur Rahman, who has come under the scanner amid controversy over his wealth, has made a big fortune through investments in the stock market, raising questions about the means he applied in the process.

In a recent interview with private television ntv, Matiur, who was yesterday removed from NBR and attached to the finance ministry, admitted that he used his expertise and insights about the capital market to buy shares of ailing but potential companies to make financial gains.

In his own admission, the career tax official would sit with owners of listed companies and visit firms to identify their weakness and offer solutions for growth. In essence, he would buy company shares in their rainy days and trade them when the share value shot up.

"This gives you a good gain," he said, adding that he also offered consultancy for initial public offering (IPOs) to help companies float shares to raise money from the public.

Matiur's admissions offer vital clues as to how people with power and influence over public institutions can become a money-making machine. What happened in Matiur's case is simple yet intriguing: he entered the share market with insider information, an unlawful practice as per the capital market regulations, to mint money.

The regulation against inside trading is meant to safeguard general investors against those with privileged information who can make gains or avert losses that the general investors cannot.

The controversy over Matiur and his family's wealth comes amid ongoing investigations and public discussions about massive wealth of a number of other top current and former government officials and their family members.

An initial tally by The Daily Star shows he and his company held more than 3 crore shares of at least 10 companies – but this figure may rise.

Matiur, who also worked at Chattogram Customs and Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU), VAT, told ntv on Wednesday that he started investing in the capital market in 2008.

He also acknowledged that he made "abnormally high" money from the shares of Fortune Shoes. He bought the company's shares at Tk 8 whose face value was Tk 10, and sold them at Tk 54 each.

"I had a deal with the owner of the shoemaker to offer consultancy to bring the company to the stock market. In return, the owner gave me shares at Tk 8."

He did not respond to our calls and text messages over the last two days.

According to the Companies Act, a company can sell shares at a discount price but with approval from the High Court, and it must be shown in the company's financial reports.

However, the company did not take any approval and did not show it in the financial report of 2015-16 when it got listed. Moreover, the IPO prospectus showed that all shareholders bought shares at face value of Tk 10 each.

Under service rules, government officials cannot work as consultants to facilitate companies to be listed in the capital market. The securities rules also have no option for any individual to offer consultancy related to IPO listing.

It is the job of merchant banks with issue management licences, and there are 66 such merchant banks in Bangladesh, according to BSEC data.

The merchant banks offer their service against a fee, and cannot accept any shares from the company, according to company listing regulations of 2015.

"The issue manager is in no way connected with the issuer and does not hold any of its securities," the regulations say.

Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi, a former chairman of BSEC, said a public service-holder should not offer such consultancy. The securities rules also have no option for that.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

Corruption, irregularities handicap BSMMU unit
Rashad Ahamad 24 June, 2024, 23:59



The Super Specialised Hospital of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University could not become fully operational two years after its inauguration due to the absence of the required manpower and logistics.

The new administration of the hospital said that they had found corruption and irregularities at all stages, including in the recruitment of manpower, in the purchasing of equipment and renting of spaces to facilitate services at the specialised hospital.

On September 14, 2022, prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the 750-bed specialised hospital, which promised to offer medical services that remained unavailable in most other hospitals in Bangladesh.

Following the opening, the hospital's administration began offering some outdoor services, primarily doctor consultations, because other resources, such as diagnostic tests, were not available.

Most allegations of corruption and irregularities were directed at BSMMU's immediate past vice chancellor, Md Sharfuddin Ahmed, during whose tenure the hospital was constructed.

Sharfuddin denied the allegations and shifted the blame on the present administration for slowing down the process of making the hospital fully operational.

He claimed that all purchases and appointments were approved by a university syndicate committee.

'I did nothing on my own. If there were any irregularities, committee members should be held accountable,' he said.

BSMMU registrar Professor ABM Abdul Hannan said that the new administration that took charge of the medical university two months ago was trying to make the hospital functional soon.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

Postal officials embezzled Tk 55 crore: Palak


Zunaid Ahmed Palak. Photo: Collected/File

Postal officials have misappropriated Tk 55 crore from both people and departmental resources, said Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology today.

"We have found out that Tk 55 crore was misappropriated by postal officials nationwide, and I have already written to the ACC chairman, urging him to action," he said.

A majority of these fraudulent activities involve postal officials embezzling people's deposits without issuing official documentation for the purchase of government savings certificates.

The state minister made these remarks while speaking to reporters following a workshop jointly organised by the a2i (Aspire to Innovate) Information and Communication Technology Division, and the International Telecommunication Union at the Amari Dhaka hotel.

The minister said they recently became aware of the financial irregularities at post offices when Parul Begum, a resident of Tanore in Rajshahi, attempted suicide after failing to recover Tk 2 lakh from the local postmaster.

The postal official did not provide her with any official documents even though she bought savings certificates, he said.​

AL MPs blast corruption
Staff Correspondent 27 June, 2024, 00:38




Several Awami League lawmakers on Wednesday became scathingly critical of the rampant corruption in the country.

Lawmaker and AL joint general secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim on Wednesday came down heavily on the associations of various professional bodies for giving statement in favour of corrupt government officials.

He also said that by giving statement in favour of corrupt individuals these associations were taking responsibilities of the corruption on their own shoulders.

He made the remarks while speaking in the parliament on the general discussion on the proposed budget for the 2024–25 fiscal.

He also stressed finding out other corrupt government officials and urged the government bodies to act accordingly.

He said that politicians did not take action or take sides when allegations of corruption or misdeeds are raised against other politicians.

'Rather, they raised their voice to take political and legal actions. That is the greatness of honest politicians. But sometimes we see when there are corruption allegations against a particular public servant or an official of any private, semi-government organisations or law enforcement agencies, a statement is produced on behalf of the corrupt individual,' he said.

In other words, he said, the responsibility of the allegations against the particular individual is taken by those organisations.

'This responsibility falls on the entire organisation. We have to get out of this,' he said and called for initiatives to implement prime minister Sheikh Hasina's zero-tolerance policy against corruption through strict action against corrupt individuals, institutions, government or private agencies or organisations.

Nasim also stressed the importance of reducing the amount of defaulted loans through stern measures against the defaulters.

He said that loan defaulters, money launderers, looters of bank money, and those who do price hikes must be identified.

'I think it is necessary to prepare a list and present it to the nation,' he added.

The AL leader called for forming a special task force to protect people from the hands of this vicious, totalitarian, self-seeking gang.

He said that all the achievements of the country were gained under the leadership of the Awami League and politicians.

'But a cabal of usurers or foot-licking dogs of foreign masters corrupt politics and political leadership whenever they get a chance,' he blasted.

On June 21, the Bangladesh Police Service Association issued a statement condemning what it termed a 'smear campaign' orchestrated by certain media outlets against current and former members of the police force.

BPSA termed recent media reports against its retired and serving officials as 'partial, ill-motivated, sweeping and exaggerated' and also requested the media to be more cautious while publishing reports on the force.

The statement came amid legal action over allegations of accumulating huge illegal wealth by former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed and his family based on media reports.

Recently, former Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia also made headlines over allegations of amassing illegal wealth, while expelled president of the National Board of Revenue's Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal Matiur Rahman was transferred to the Internal Resources Division of the finance ministry following a recent controversy over his wealth.

The controversy regarding Matiur's wealth surfaced after his son Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat posted a photo of a sacrificial goat on social media and claimed to have bought it for Tk 12 lakh.

This raised questions about his father's income at this grade (grade-1) with a basic monthly salary of Tk 78,000.

Later, Ifat's photos with cars of different brands surfaced on social media and information on Matiur's huge wealth, including flats and resorts in various places, including Dhaka, Gazipur and Narsingdhi became public.

Besides, Narail-1 AL lawmaker BM Kabirul Haque said that corruption had been institutionalised in the country.

He said that people involved in procurement and project implementation committed massive corruption and made wealth worth hundreds crore of taka.

Kabirul Haque demanded drastic action against those involved in corruption saying that lawmakers had no scope of doing corruption as they were not involved in any procurement or project implementation.​

Social media, corruption and that goat
Afsan Chowdhury 26 June, 2024, 22:04

NOTHING works like social media when it comes to spreading news as it shows regularly in everyday life. Scandals, sports religion or bed bug spray are all now dependent on social media. If it is not there, it is nowhere. And, this is increasingly becoming clear that while the official, formal and state-inspired agencies, including mainstream professional media, can be reined in when needed, social media has taken over this sector more than one would like to admit.

The kind of image the ruling powers would like people to think they have is shattered or was shattered long back and no one is pretending that it does. One can be in denial about it, but the fact remains that it will be very difficult to sell the idea to the people — read: social media consumers — that officials and power players whether police chiefs or members of parliament or senior officials are clean. There are far too many videos of bribe-consuming officials and their way of life on social media to argue otherwise.

What, of course, saves them is the fact that nobody really thought otherwise and, so, the exposure of corruption on social media has considerable interest, but more of the entertainment type rather than content on the state of governance?

Which is why the question is longer about the size of goats, resorts and so on but why such a deluge of news right now? Why suddenly this rush to expose and the felling of the biggest trees that makes regimes feel safe, secure and well-resourced? Who is responsible?

Social media, status and the wealthy

THE latest episode centred around one Iffat, the son of Matiur, a very senior revenue board official now famous for his wealth and able to carry on, no matter who accuses him of what. Iffat boasted on a social media posting of the large high-pedigree goat that he had bought during Eid-ul-Azha.

As is bound to happen when any post goes viral, people began to dig into his background and the family connection with the government official was made. Matiur was son of a senior official and not exactly an unknown content. Soon, many other details began to pop up. But the clincher came from Matiur himself when he denied that Iffat was his son. And the proverbial *&*&*&*& hit the ceiling.

Within hours, it had become one of the biggest social media sensations with everyone pitching in. Even Awami League politicians said that both were father and son. And then came the deluge of information on the kind of riches Matiur had managed to accumulate in his working years. It ran into hundreds of crores.

The riches, his own and that of others

THE list is huge and multifarious with landed property, resorts, parks, buildings, business establishments and on and on. Suddenly, he was threatening to take over Benazir in terms of accumulation. Unlike the former inspector general of police, he had not been accused of promoting 'encounter' death and had the US breathing down his neck but he seems to have been a facilitator of wealth making, his own and that of others.

In a Desh TV talk-show, a senior official remarked that when he was transferred, in 2007, senior army officials including CMLA Moin U Ahmed asked for his transfer order to be rescinded. When the head of a military government makes such a request, it shows the status. The range of his clout was obvious and that is why his fall is more than a simple act of getting tough on corruption.

Somewhere some wheels may also be moving but there is no doubt that social media has become a new factor even in politics, a new pressure space which cannot be ignored even if one wants to.

Is a crackdown on?

THAT some kind of whipping and leashing is on has become a growing speculation. Several police officials have been targeted and Benazir, Asad and others are being named on social media and none is saying whether they are in or out of the country.

Such pieces of news are making it to mainstream media which means official endorsement is there of such media distribution. That these people were into money making is no secret but nothing was ever done against them. Matiur had four major charges and investigations and he escaped each time with the proverbial 'no evidence found' tag every time. Then, why did he stumble?

A few years back, a crackdown was launched against politicians centred on gambling, including casinos. Several politicians were hauled in and they spent time in jail and hospital beds, awaiting trial, which never came. However, there was one prominent 'accused' GK Shamim but he was not a serious politician and still remains inside as sort of warning to others one guesses. Gambling of many forms are back naturally nor many ways of making money.

Given the number of civilian bigwigs of the bureaucracy variety who are being held or chased, is it a similar campaign to let the bureaucracy know that the leash is ultimately in the hands of the powers that be? No one can say as none knows, but there is no question that social media is something none can ignore.​

Govt must bring back laundered money to ease economic crisis
27 June, 2024, 00:00

JUNE 24 was a day when the demand for power fell 1.88GW short of the demand for 14.89GW, up from a shortage of 278MW against the demand for 14.38GW only 24 hours ago although the installed power generation capacity is 27.51GW. The ongoing mild-to-moderate heatwave that is reported to be sweeping over 31 districts in the divisions of Dhaka, Rajshahi and Khulna beginning three days ago pushed the demand for power up by about 4GW, leaving both the government and people struggling to cope with power outages. People faced power cuts for up to 16 hours in places on the day. An analysis of the daily power generation report that the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh released shows that 114 out of 150 power plants were either partially or completely out of order for one reason or another on the day. Thirty-three plants faced technical problems such as engine or machine troubles, a dozen plants were under maintenance and 18 did not run as their contracts expired. But 46 gas- and furnace oil-run power plants could not run because of fuel shortage. The economic downturn that has been persisting for more than two years seems to be holding back the government from spending on fuel for power.

The situation worsened with the shutdown of a floating storage and re-gasificaion unit after Adani Power had shut down a unit at the 1,600MW Godda plant arguably for maintenance, which Bangladesh authorities say was unscheduled. What seems to be the problem is that the government owes more than $3 billion, as the power ministry says, to power producers at home and abroad, And, the amount includes $500 million in outstanding bills to Adani Power. The decreasing idle funds from state-owned and autonomous enterprises are also reported to have exacerbated the government's ability to manage the ongoing fund crisis. Finance Division officials say that about Tk 350 billion in the 2020 and 2021 financial years after the enactment of the Surplus Fund Act 2020. The fund has helped the government to meet the growing development costs amidst less-than-expected revenue generation. But the collection of surplus funds has been suspended since the 2022 financial year as most of the 61 autonomous, semi-autonomous and statutory government agencies are unwilling to make the contribution. Experts say that surplus funds almost used up may have added to the government's ongoing fund crunch. A court directive of September 2022 that asked the law and finance secretaries to explain the legality of the act appears to have discouraged the authorities from gleaning whatever amount of idle funds that are there.

Whatever the government says, it appears to be facing a serious economic crisis that it must overcome by employing all means that it can. A first step in this direction could be serious effort on part of the government to repatriate the money that has so far been laundered out. A former minister of state for planning on June 20 put the crisis down to illicit financial flows, by way of which $7–8 billion were annually laundered out. It is time the government acted, early and in earnest.​

Public Servants: Anti-graft laws, rules relaxed over the years



For over two decades, laws and regulations meant for curbing corruption by government employees have been relaxed, creating scope for officials to indulge in irregularities with relative impunity.

Both the BNP and Awami League-led governments made amendments to the rules, lightening penalties for corruption.

Through an amendment to the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules (1985), the authorities in 2018 included "reprimand" as a penalty for corruption that has been proven through investigations.

Before this amendment, the punishment was either "compulsory retirement", "removal from service" or "dismissal from service".

Civil service expert Firoz Mia said relaxation of the rules and regulations would have a harmful impact in the long run.

"If an investigation finds that a government employee was involved in corruption, why would the person be in service? Why should other officials work alongside the corrupt individual? What message would the colleagues get?" he asked.

Instead of creating scopes for corrupt officials to evade accountability, the government should make strict corruption-busting rules that uphold transparency, he added.

In April, an investigation found that Promatha Ranjan Ghatak, now an assistant secretary, had embezzled Tk 7.35 crore while he was the land acquisition officer in Madaripur from June 2020 to June 2021 .

On papers, he provided the money to five locals who owned plots of land that were acquired by the state for the Padma Bridge. But in reality, as public administration ministry investigations found, the plots were owned by the government, and there was no need to compensate anyone.

The punishment Promatha received was a demotion from the rank of senior assistant secretary to assistant secretary.

Feroz Mia said the penalty was not commensurate with Promatha's offence.

A joint secretary of the cabinet division, requesting anonymity, said, "Had the 1985 rules not been relaxed, the official would surely be dismissed. As long as he is there, his honest colleagues will feel uncomfortable."

In April, the government reduced the salary of Bir Amir Hamza, an assistant commissioner (land) of Bogura Sadar Upazila, for 12 months after he was found guilty of forgery for financial gains.

The punishment raised eyebrows as many of his superiors thought he would be sacked.

Many believe that the government provided impunity to the public servants by enacting the Government Services Act, 2018, which replaced Public Servants (Dismissal on Conviction) Ordinance, 1985.

According to the 1985 ordinance, a government employee punished for any criminal offence should be dismissed.

As per the 2018 act, an employee can be in service even after being sentenced to up to 12 months in prison for a criminal offence.

The 2002 amendment to the Government Servant (Conduct) Rules-1979 is yet another example.

According to Section-13 of the rules, civil servants had to submit their wealth statement to their departments every year.

But now the employees have to do it every five years, thanks to an amendment to the rules during the tenure of the BNP-led alliance government in 2002.

Many officials do not bother with submitting their wealth statements it at all, sources said.

Besides, the public administration ministry has taken an initiative to further relax this provision. The ministry proposes that the government collect the employees' wealth statements from annual tax returns if necessary.

Former secretary Badiur Rahman said that weakening the law means encouraging corruption.

The lenient rules and laws send a message to the government employees that they can get away with corruption, he said. "These amendments are a step in the wrong direction."

Only stringent laws can deter corruption, he added.

Supreme Court lawyer Arif Khan said, "Enacting laws or regulations that encourage corruption is tantamount to ignoring the Constitution."

The Constitution states that the government will enact laws so that no citizen can possess illegal wealth. According to Article 20(2) of the Constitution, "The State shall endeavour to create conditions in which, as a general principle, persons shall not be able to enjoy unearned incomes..."

Over the last few weeks, corruption by several government officials hogged the headlines.

Awami League leader and lawmaker Mahbubul Alam Hanif on June 25 told parliament that corruption had eclipsed the government's achievements.

"The government has repeatedly announced its zero-tolerance policy against corruption… The rules and regulations have been relaxed and made more lenient. There is scope for errant officers to be on job with the bare minimum penalties."

He said the Government Services Act, 2018, could be "considered a law to protect criminals".

On June 26, lawmaker Kabirul Haque said corruption had become institutionalised.​

Costs of high-level corruption: Further down the kleptocratic route
High-level corruption


VISUAL: SHAIKH SULTANA JAHAN BADHON

Mahatma Gandhi's quote that there is enough in this world to meet everyone's need but not for anyone's greed is aptly illustrated by the ongoing media and other credible exposures of evidence of corruption in Bangladesh. Confirming that sky is the limit, these revelations of high-level abuse of power, known as grand corruption, though nothing new except the procession of disclosures, have shocked and awed the nation.

Several key institutions, apparently sanctuaries of high-level corruption and related criminalities, have been exposed to risks of kleptocratic capture. These include the army, police, Rab, National Board of Revenue (NBR) and, not the least, the country's major political parties. A former army chief and his immediate family have been slapped with sanctions for "significant corruption," including assistance in evasion of accountability for criminal activity, facilitating improper awarding of military contracts, and acceptance of bribes. His actions have been assessed to have "contributed to undermining Bangladesh's democratic institutions and the public faith in public institutions and processes."

Having retired after gaining the dubious distinction of topping the list of kingpins behind sanctions against Rab for gross human rights violations, the former police chief has managed to flee the country with questionable ease, arguably as part of a suspected sinister deal. This at a time when he has been publicised to be under the Anti-Corruption Commission's (ACC) radar for amassing unbelievable amounts of income and wealth acquired across the country by ruthlessly violating entrusted institutional power coupled with political blessing, fraud and criminal extortion. In so doing, he applied the skills acquired over the years as a crime control professional and transformed himself from his mandated position of protector of law to a role model of lawbreaking. As widely expected, he was not the only instance of such brazenly normalised corruption in the police force as many other similar exposures followed, including that of the former Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner.

A member of NBR and president of its Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal came to the spotlight, catalysed by his son's goat scandal and subsequent exposure of grotesque details of his and his family's accumulation of income and properties. He did so abusing his oversight role of revenue generation for the state, which he converted into that of the tax evasion guru as an illegitimate source of income. It is again obvious that he is not the sole X percent person in the NBR, nor is it possible that he operated in isolation without collusion and protection of many others.

No less troubling is the case of the brutal killing of an MP allegedly as an example of infighting of political power abusers over the share of booties of gold smuggling and the related illicit business facilitated and protected over the years by those mandated to control such criminalisation of politics. Again, this is no isolated case of political corruption, as symbolised by the case of an MP serving prison term in Kuwait for transnational crimes, including money laundering and human trafficking. Nor is criminalisation of politics a monopoly of the current ruling party, as its arch-rival left behind a legacy of no less grand corruption, arms smuggling and ruthless political criminalisation, including several attempts at the life of the top leader of their rival political party, causing multiple deaths.

As scandalous as these examples are, it is no surprise at all because successive regimes have driven the state to this level through their desperate bids to ensure partisan capture of the institutions to facilitate, promote and protect power abuse and thereby grant impunity to high-level perpetrators.

Implications of such grand corruption are destabilising for the state. Their money value can be concretely measured only by the government and relevant agencies, only if done with integrity, free from conflict of interest. For some general idea, one may consider the value of compromise of the least cost, best quality principle in procurements and other public expenditures in which the officials were involved and received kickbacks or shares; value of concealed and laundered income and wealth; undervalued price of acquired properties and taxes evaded, etc.

On the other hand, a close look at the files of clients of NBR officials will take independent investigators to a gold mine of data to explain why Bangladesh's tax-GDP ratio is one of the lowest in the world; why the target of increased pressures for higher revenue collection are the common people through indirect taxes; and why honest taxpayers are most often treated as enemies of unscrupulous NBR officials while tax evaders as close allies. Tax officials' bribery and kickback are more directly damaging for the state than any other sector. Irrespective of the amount a tax official collects to facilitate illicit tax evasion, the evaded tax amount is a direct loss of revenue. Add to this, the unabated problem of money laundering, the lion's share of which takes place through trade-based illicit transfers allegedly with the knowledge, facilitation and collusion of the revenue authority.

Collusive abuse of power in all these cases is also among the reasons why nothing has happened to the perpetrators. The former NBR member, for instance, conveniently outsmarted several initiatives for departmental procedure in response to allegations over the years, nor could the ACC proceed with concrete action. It's also no secret that he has been enjoying the patronage and protection of the business-politics-bureaucracy power structure, which also helped invincibility of the overall illegal tax evasion system.

Non-monetary costs of corruption are no less ominous for the state, the worst victim of which are the institutions in general and particularly those at the centre of recent focus. None of them has yet shown the courage to come up with any action or concrete pledge against those within their own ranks, who have pushed the respective institutions to severe reputational damage. None of them seem to care that it is time to face the mirror and undertake strategies to ensure accountability and justice in the short term, and overhaul themselves in the medium and long terms, which is indispensable to restore their credibility and uphold the spirit and values of Bangladesh's independence.

What has happened instead has only added to the already existing atmosphere of intimidation to the media, as demonstrated by the infamous statement by the BPSA, which has been viewed as nothing but an effort to grossly curtail media freedom guaranteed by the constitution. Aggrieved by the disclosures and with an apparent sense of insecurity as birds of the same feather, the association adopted the "shoot the messenger" tactic and blamed media reports as motivated, while in fact the statement itself was a motivated act to suppress disclosure of corruption information. It is also no coincidence that the home ministry reached out quickly to the information ministry with a note that practically endorsed the BPSA position.

Coming as all these do simultaneously with the creation (once again) of the provision in the national budget for an unconstitutional, discriminatory and corruption-friendly reward system for black money, the key message given to the people is that corruption enjoys systemic guarantee of impunity. Little do the power holders seem to care that by converting the commitment of zero tolerance against corruption in election manifestos and other public pronouncements into useless rhetoric, floodgates are being opened to further kleptocratic disorder of the state.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman is executive director at Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB).​

Padma Bridge Project: Corrupt yet let off the hook too easily
Forced into retirement for graft, land surveyor gets his job back with lower salary


Mainul Hasan

A government employee has been reinstated to his job after being dismissed for being involved in a fraudulent compensation scheme in the Padma Bridge project.

Mainul Hasan, a former land surveyor of Madaripur, was sent into forced retirement in November last year after the district administration and land ministry's investigation found him guilty of facilitating a scam, for which the government lost Tk 1.64 crore.

However, land ministry Secretary Khalilur Rahman reinstated him on June 9 this year, reducing his punishment from forced retirement by lowering his salary grade for five years.

Earlier in September 2022, a divisional case was filed against him over misconduct and corruption.

During Mainul's posting in Madaripur deputy commissioner's office in 2020, he was responsible for overseeing land acquisition for the Padma Bridge in Shibchar upazila.

He granted Tk 1.64 crore to two individuals for supposedly using 3.37 acres of their land for the project in Sujanagar mouza.

However, the land never belonged to the two in the first place, in fact, those were government land.

The compensation was provided based on forged documents.

Following allegations against Mainul, a three-member investigation committee was formed, led by the deputy director of local government.

The committee confirmed that Mainul issued compensation cheques on September 9 and September 20 of 2020. The land ministry also formed a separate probe committee.

"Allegations of negligence in the misconduct of duties are found true," the probe body concluded.

On November 8, 2022, the ministry issued a notification stating that Mainul would be forced into retirement for his involvement in corruption.

"This type of dishonest activity harms the interests of the government and tarnishes the image of the office. It shows a lack of honesty, impartiality, responsibility, and efficiency in his work," said the notification. It also stated that Mainul "personally benefited from the scheme".

Mainul's response to a show-cause letter was deemed unsatisfactory, according to the notification. However, on March 11, 2023, Mainul appealed to the land ministry.

After the appeal hearing, led by the secretary, the ministry backtracked from its original decision. Although the committee, which heard the appeal, was convinced that Mainul failed to provide satisfactory response in his defense, the forced retirement was suddenly deemed as "excessive punishment".

On June 9, 2024, a new notification was issued, reducing Mainul's punishment to a lower salary grade for five years.

Many senior government officials at the land ministry were baffled by the decision.

Requesting anonymity, an officer of the ministry, said the reduction in punishment does not set a good precedent for junior officers.

Mainul could not be reached for comments.

Contacted, Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said, "Specific allegations against the accused employee [Mainul] were proven and undeniable. The ministry officials, including the secretary who protected this employee, are guilty of supporting corruption."

Despite repeated attempts through texts and phone, the land secretary could not be contacted for comments.​

Black money-holders laugh, loan defaulters to grumble
DOULOT AKTER MALA
Published :
Jun 29, 2024 23:55
Updated :
Jun 29, 2024 23:55


A 'no pay, no claim' measure is adopted on interest expenses to accelerate repayment of loans as parliament Saturday passed the finance bill with contentious provisions for black-money whitening and duty-free car import.
In another major fiscal measure, opposed by many, the government imposed gains tax on investors in stocks.

From July 1, 2024, taxpayers would be able to claim tax benefit on interest amount as 'allowable expenses' if they pay it (interest amount) in that year.

In the Finance Act 2024, passed Saturday in parliament, the government has scrapped the existing provision to cushion loan defaulters.

Taxpayers will be able to lessen their tax liability by claiming the interest or profit expenses in their tax returns, if it is paid instead of the existing provision 'payable'.

Currently, section 46(7) of the Income Tax Act 2023 allows payable interest or profit expenses of taxpayers to claim tax benefit up to three years, even if it is not paid in this period.

However, if the amount remains unpaid within three years, the entire amount would be treated as taxable in the fourth year as 'special business income'.

Official sources say the loopholes in the law have been addressed in this Act by amending the longstanding provision helping loan defaulters to exploit the leniency for years.

"Only interest actually paid will be considered for tax benefit," says one revenue official.

Executive Director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI) Dr Ahsan H Mansur hails the measure he expects to minimize the country's bloated non-performing loans or NPLs, staying as a dead-weight on the banking system.

"It is justified to allow tax benefit if interest amount is paid, otherwise a loan defaulter would benefit in two ways," he says.

According to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, default loan in the banking sector had hit an all-time high at Tk 1.82 trillion until March 2024.

However, in view of recurrent lending anomalies, it has been claimed that actual volume of default loans is higher than the official figure.

As per BB data, some 11.10 per cent of the disbursed loans have turned sour as bad loan.

In the new act, the parliament has kept the highest tax rate for individual taxpayers unchanged at 25 per cent for FY 2024-25. In the budget speech on June 6, 2024, the finance minister had proposed to raise the tax rate to 30 per cent.

Dr Mansur says the decision is justified as existing taxpayers should not be penalized only. "The government should find out the tax-evaders and people escaping tax net."

Also, the proposal on imposing 25-percent Customs Duty (CD) on import of vehicles by Members of Parliament (MPs) has not been passed by the parliament.

As a result, the MPs would go on enjoying the duty-free benefit on import of their high-end vehicles.

Also retained are the tax-holiday and zero-duty facilities on import of capital machinery for private Economic Zones and Hi-tech Parks.

Despite strong demands for continuation of tax-free benefit for individual investors in capital market, the parliament endorsed the budget proposal imposing 15-percent capital-gains tax on investment above Tk 5.0 million.

Also, the much-talked-about black money-whitening scheme by paying 15-percent tax for both individual and corporate taxpayers is ratified by the lawmakers.​

Two companies of S Alam Group evade Tk 3,538 crore in VAT
Staff Correspondent 30 June, 2024, 23:58

Two companies of S Alam Group evaded Tk 3,538 crore in Value Added Tax through various ways in three years between 2019 and 2022.

The two companies----Vegetable Oil Ltd and S Alam Super Edible Oil Ltd--- evaded Tk 3,538 crore in VAT and they were also fined another TK 3,531 crore for evading the VAT amount.

The National Board of Revenue found the incident during an audit by the NBR's VAT wing of Customs Excise & VAT Commissionerate, Chattogram.

Of the amount, S Alam Vegetable Oil Ltd evaded Tk 1,917 crore and S Alam Super Edible Oil Ltd evaded Tk 1,621 crore between FY 2019-20 and FY 2021-22, according to the audit report.

Syed Mushfequr Rahman, commissioner of Customs Excise & VAT Commissionerate, Chattogram, told New Age that the companies had 90 days' time to appeal in this regard.

'Now the issue is out of our hand and only the tribunal will take decision after their appeal within the stipulated time,' he added.

The NBR official also said that the companies had denied the results now, but the audit was carried out by the field office of Customs, Excise & VAT Commissionerate, Chattogram, and was subsequently reviewed by a five-member committee headed by an additional commissioner, Chattogram VAT Commissionerate, which drew the same conclusion.

S Alam Group's company lawyer Mustafizur Rahman, however, told media that the VAT auditors had legal obligations to inspect the factory to assess the sales records and hear them, but they reached the decision without doing any of these.

He also said that they were not given the opportunity to be heard.​

HC questions govt demands of unpaid VAT from S Alam companies
S Alam Group assets



The High Court today questioned the legality of government's demand for unpaid VAT and the consequent fines of over Tk 7,000 crore from S Alam Vegetable Oil Ltd and S Alam Super Edible Oil Ltd.

On June 9, the Customs, VAT & Excise Commissionerate, Chattogram, in its adjudication orders asked the two companies to pay Tk 3,538 crore in "evaded VAT", Tk 3,531 crore in fines, and interest on the amounts, to the state coffers within 15 work days. Customs said the value added tax was evaded in fiscal years 2019-20 and 2021-22.

Today, the HC in two rules asked the respondents as to why the VAT determination orders -- issued by the commissioner of Customs, Excise & VAT Commissionerate, Chattogram, without hearing the two companies -- should not be declared illegal.

The respondents – the commissioner and deputy commissioners of the Chattogram commissionerate; and revenue officer of Customs, Excise & VAT, Karnaphuli Circle, Taltola Chowki, Patia, Chattogram -- were asked to come up with an explanation within 10 days.

The court also asked them why the commissioner of the Chattogram commissionerate should not be asked to dispose of the matter by strictly following sections 73 and 85 of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012.

The HC bench of Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir issued the rules after two writ petitions were filed by the two companies.

The bench also fixed July 15 to hold a hearing on the rules.

During today's hearing, the companies' lawyer Ahsanul Karim told the bench that his clients on June 4 sought time from the commissionerate for their senior counsel to appear for hearings.

He said his clients were not heard before the adjudication orders were issued. The commissioner of the Chattogram commissionerate violated the principle of natural justice in passing the orders by not allowing his clients to defend themselves against allegations made in show-cause notices issued on October 4 and December 27 last year and on March 18 this year, the lawyer said.

Deputy Attorney General Nawroz MR Chowdhury representing the government told the court that the companies were given time on several occasions over the last one year to submit their statements before the commissioner to uphold the principle of natural justice.

But they had not done it. They cannot be given unlimited time under the relevant law, he said.

At one stage, Deputy Attorney General Samarebdranath Biswas told the HC that the companies' intention was not to pay the VAT.

Lawyer for the companies, Ahsanul said his clients never said that they would not pay the VAT.

According to an audit by the VAT wing of the National Board of Revenue, the companies have unpaid VAT and consequent penalties of over Tk 7,000 crore. They evaded VAT by presenting lower purchase and sales data in VAT returns and other means between 2019 and 2022.

The audit was subsequently reviewed by a five-member committee led by an additional commissioner of Chattogram VAT Commissionerate, which also arrived at the same conclusion.

The two companies denied any wrongdoing.​