[🇧🇩] Corruption Watch

[Saif]

ACC chairman, two commissioners resign

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Dr MA and two commissioners resigned from their posts on Tuesday. The two commissioners are Brig Hafiz Ahsan Faridi and Mia Mohammad Ali Akbar Azizi. Sources at the ACC said the chairman and commissioners cited personal reasons in their resignation letter

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

ACC chairman, two commissioners resign

FE ONLINE REPORT
Published :
Mar 03, 2026 15:40
Updated :
Mar 03, 2026 17:07

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Dr MA and two commissioners resigned from their posts on Tuesday.

The two commissioners are Brig Hafiz Ahsan Faridi and Mia Mohammad Ali Akbar Azizi.

Sources at the ACC said the chairman and commissioners cited personal reasons in their resignation letters.

They were appointed in October 2024 during the interim government after the July Uprising.​

 

[Saif]

Asif Mahmud discloses Tk 1 million bank balance after accounts sought by BFIU

Former advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain has revealed that he holds just under Tk 1 million in his bank accounts after authorities sought details of his financial records. The National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson disclosed his own and his family members’ bank accounts at a press confer

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Asif Mahmud discloses Tk 1 million bank balance after accounts sought by BFIU

bdnews24.com
Published :
Mar 04, 2026 23:38
Updated :
Mar 04, 2026 23:38

Former advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain has revealed that he holds just under Tk 1 million in his bank accounts after authorities sought details of his financial records.

The National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson disclosed his own and his family members’ bank accounts at a press conference on Wednesday, alleging that various accusations were being raised to “defame” him.

Asif claimed a fresh wave of propaganda began after his name surfaced as a potential party candidate for the post of mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).Geographic Reference

He said one of his accounts holds Tk 978,626 and another Tk 9,930.

His father, a teacher, has Tk 547,711 across five accounts.

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), the financial sector intelligence agency, sought details of Asif’s bank accounts on Tuesday.

At the press conference, Asif said the BFIU sought bank accounts of 56 individuals.

He added that the agency sent clear messages to banks saying the information was confidential.

“But in the BFIU’s official journalists’ group, they themselves made that confidential information public. As a citizen, I believe this violates an individual’s privacy,” he claimed.

He said singling out his bank account exposes the “ill intent” behind such an inquiry, the intention being to “defame” him.

Journalists covering the Bangladesh Bank beat said there is no such group, “official” or otherwise, run by the BFIU for reporters.​

 

[Saif]

Let the ACC work independently

The abrupt resignation of the ACC leadership raises questions.

www.thedailystar.net

Let the ACC work independently

Abrupt resignation of ACC leadership raises questions
5 March 2026, 11:00 AM
UPDATED 5 March 2026, 14:58 PM

VISUAL: STAR

In the polite lexicon of bureaucracy, it was termed a voluntary resignation. In the harsher reality of power politics, it was allegedly a forced exit. On Tuesday, Mohammad Abdul Momen, chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, and his two fellow commissioners abruptly vacated their posts just 15 months into their five-year terms. Momen wryly observed that a new political government “will naturally want to work according to its own manifesto.” This sudden exit is still a worrying signal about the trajectory of the new administration, as it raises the possibility of partisan influences.

Under Momen’s brief leadership, the ACC was uncharacteristically active. Installed by the interim government in December 2024 to clean up the rot left behind by the ousted Awami League regime, the commission moved with unusual resolve. It targeted a sprawling nexus of oligarchs, politicians, and phantom corporations that had long treated the national exchequer as a private slush fund. The scale of its actions was striking. In 2025 alone, the ACC froze or attached assets worth over Tk 29,300 crore (roughly $2.5 billion), compared with a paltry Tk 11 crore the year before. It impounded nearly 7,000 acres of land, locked down 1,360 bank accounts holding highly liquid cash, and froze shares in 105 companies worth Tk 8,000 crore. These actions amounted to a systemic dismantling of complex financial laundering operations.

More importantly, the commission pursued figures long considered untouchable. It filed sweeping charges against Mohammed Saiful Alam of S Alam Group for the alleged multi-billion-dollar plundering of Islamic banks. It also pursued former ministers and power-brokers such as Salman F Rahman, uncovering ghost exports and fictitious development funds. For a country whose banking sector has been chronically hollowed out by non-performing loans and crony capitalism, the ACC was performing a form of economic triage.

Momen’s departure carries an irony of its own. He was forced into early retirement by the Awami League in 2013 precisely because of his past association with the late BNP leader Khaleda Zia. More than a decade later, he has again been pushed aside, as per sources in the ACC—this time under a different political dispensation. The forced stepping down of an anti-corruption panel just weeks after it took office reveals something about the new leadership’s priorities. The rhetoric of reform is easily deployed on the campaign trail; the reality of reform is now beginning to unfold.

It remains to be seen whether the new ACC leadership, whoever that is, can work independently and without government interference. The newly elected government campaigned on a promise to restore the rule of law. We hope it does not mark a depressing return to business as usual. The government must ensure that the state’s oversight mechanisms are not treated as mere extensions of the ruling party. Bangladesh’s economy lost billions of dollars over the past decade. The bleeding must now be stopped.​

 

[Saif]

Unified strategy, road map must to fight corruption

THE call of Transparency International Bangladesh for a unified strategy and road map for the implementation of anti-corruption pledges is timely. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s reform commitments made in the election manifesto and...

www.newagebd.net

Unified strategy, road map must to fight corruption

THE call of Transparency International Bangladesh for a unified strategy and road map for the implementation of anti-corruption pledges is timely. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s reform commitments made in the election manifesto and iterated after the government’s formation have raised public expectations of a decisive break from the entrenched culture of corruption. Yet, experiences suggest that lofty promises remain unrealised. The country has for long struggled with pervasive corruption and despite periodic reform drives, the country has continued to appear among the most corruption-infested nations in global assessments. The persistence of bribery, abuse of power and political patronage across public institutions shows how deeply rooted the problem is. Unless the government translates its pledges into a coherent, time-bound strategy backed by institutional reforms and political will, the promise of a corruption-free administration will remain elusive. A unified road map grounded in the party’s reform outline, electoral manifesto and the July charter could provide the framework for coordinated policies, accountability and implementation. More important, such a strategy would signal to citizens that the government intends not only to speak against corruption but to confront it systematically and transparently.Bangladesh country politics

The urgency of such a strategy becomes clear when viewed against the scale and impact of corruption in everyday life. Corruption erodes public trust in the institutions and deprives citizens of the services and opportunities they are promised. When people must pay bribes for basic services, the legitimacy of institutions is steadily undermined. Recent Transparency International Bangladesh reports have highlighted the depth of the challenge. Household surveys and analytical white papers released in late 2024 and early 2025 identified several major sectors as among the most corruption-prone. The findings point to systemic weaknesses rather than isolated misconduct. Addressing them requires reforms that strengthen oversight agency such as the Anti-Corruption Commission while ensuring their genuine independence and accountability. It also requires stronger financial scrutiny by institutions including the Financial Intelligence Unit, the National Board of Revenue and Bangladesh Bank to curb illicit financial flows and money laundering. Equally important is the need to confront the political culture that allows corruption to flourish. Without internal discipline within political parties and strict integrity standards for public officials, even the well-designed reforms risk being undermined by partisan interests and deep-rooted patronage networks.

The government must, therefore, recognise that the fight against corruption cannot be piecemeal. It requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach that links political commitment with enforceable reforms, transparent institutions and active public oversight. By adopting a road map, enforcing asset disclosure by elected representatives and public officials, strengthening oversight agencies and promoting integrity across public and private sectors, the administration can begin to restore public confidence.​