[🇧🇩] Corruption Watch

[Saif]

An alarming lapse in data security protocols

NTMC's revelation about illicit sale of private data raises concerns

www.thedailystar.net

An alarming lapse in data security protocols
NTMC's revelation about illicit sale of private data raises concerns

VISUAL: STAR

The National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre's (NTMC) recent revelation about the illicit sale of citizens' NID card and phone call details comes as yet another reminder of how susceptible government-stored data is to breaches and exploitations. The fact that government employees themselves have exploited their access to the data—selling it through various social media groups and messaging apps—adds another dimension to this story. For one, it exposes an alarming lapse in the data security protocols. It also means that nothing short of an overhaul of the whole data security infrastructure will be enough to contain this multifaceted threat.

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[Saif]

undefined | The Financial Express

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Corporates may get black money-whitening facility in next budget
Taxmen to turn their eyes other way amid financial woes
DOULOT AKTER MALA
Published :
May 23, 2024 00:18
Updated :
May 23, 2024 00:18

Black money may make a comeback as the government considers reinstating black money-whitening facility in the new budget, starting with corporate amnesty, trying to resuscitate sluggish economic activity.

It comes out as a first-ever step, officials say, to allow corporate taxpayers for whitening what is commonly known as black money without facing any question from taxmen.

Corporate taxpayers would be able to show their undisclosed income without disclosing source of money by paying 15-percent tax at a flat rate, official sources said.

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[Saif]

Feud over gold stash behind murder

Slain lawmaker Anwarul Azim Anar and key suspect Aktaruzzaman used to run a gold smuggling racket until they fell out over money and Azim kept a stash worth over Tk 100 crore to himself, detectives said.

www.thedailystar.net

Feud over gold stash behind murder
Dismembered remains dumped at different locations, say investigators

File photo of Anwarul Azim Anar

Slain lawmaker Anwarul Azim Anar and key suspect Aktaruzzaman used to run a gold smuggling racket until they fell out over money and Azim kept a stash worth over Tk 100 crore to himself, detectives said.

Aktaruzzaman, known as Shaheen Mia in his hometown Jhenaidah, used to get gold bars smuggled into Bangladesh from Dubai, while Azim, the ruling Awami League lawmaker from Jhenaidah-4, made sure the shipment reached the hands of the right people in India, said the officers, requesting anonymity.

Sometime last year, Azim told his partner that he wanted a bigger cut of the money, according to sources in the Detective Branch and an intelligence agency.

"Azim-Aktaruzzaman partnership hit rock bottom after Azim received two stashes worth more than Tk 100 crore, but did not have them delivered to the designated location."

— An intelligence officer says on condition of anonymity

"Aktaruzzaman snubbed Azim's proposal, and it created a rift between the two," said an intelligence officer.

"The partnership hit rock bottom after Azim received two stashes worth more than Tk 100 crore, but did not deliver them," said the officer involved in the investigation.

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[Saif]

Court orders freezing ex-IGP Benazir’s properties

A Dhaka court today ordered to freeze and attach all moveable and immovable properties of Benazir Ahmed, former inspector general of police, in connection with the allegations of corruption brought against him

www.thedailystar.net

Court orders freezing ex-IGP Benazir's properties

Benazir Ahmed. File photo

A Dhaka court today ordered to freeze and attach all moveable and immovable properties of Benazir Ahmed, former inspector general of police, in connection with the allegations of corruption brought against him.

Of them, 33 bank accounts were frozen and properties of 83 deeds were attached.

Judge Mohammad Ash-Shams Joglul Hossain of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court passed the order after ACC Deputy Director Md Hafizul Islam and also the inquiry officer of the matter, submitted an application in this regard, said bench assistant of the court.

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[Saif]

SUVs for bureaucrats amid economic woes?

Government must not waste public money like this

www.thedailystar.net

SUVs for bureaucrats amid economic woes?
Government must not waste public money like this

VISUAL: STAR

Last year, a proposal to buy 261 SUVs—worth about Tk 1.46 crore each—for deputy commissioners (DCs) and upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs) was approved. But after severe criticism against the backdrop of a struggling economy, the government decided to halt the buying process. It is, therefore, quite puzzling to see the revival of that decision, especially when the country's economic condition has worsened. Going ahead with this decision, rather than using facilities that are already available, will be nothing but a waste of public money.

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[Saif]

TIB urges govt to ensure accountability for high-level power abuse

Transparency International Bangladesh on Sunday urged the government to bring the high-level power abuse under accountability following due process and to release a White Paper on corruption...

www.newagebd.net

TIB urges govt to ensure accountability for high-level power abuse
Staff Correspondent 26 May, 2024, 21:48

Transparency International Bangladesh on Sunday urged the government to bring the high-level power abuse under accountability following due process and to release a White Paper on corruption.

The organisation came up with the call in a statement, saying that the recent exposure of high-level abuses of power, corruption, and political criminalisation need to demonstrate the credibility of the government's zero-tolerance stance on corruption, which has become unprecedentedly important.

In the statement, the body mentioned the incidents of killing of a ruling party lawmaker, the punitive United States visa sanctions against a former army chief, and the court order to seize bank accounts and assets of a former police chief.

Referring to the corruption allegations against the former army chief, the police chief, and the killing of the lawmaker, TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman said, 'If the government and the ruling party only offer evasive explanations out of embarrassment, it will not only be unacceptable to the people but also be suicidal for the government.'

He said, 'The unaccountable actions of former heads of significant state forces such as the army, the RAB, and the police, along with a lawmaker, have instilled doubts and concerns about the government and the governance structure in the people's mind.'

'These concerns need to be credibly addressed through exemplary accountability. Furthermore, the promptness exhibited by relevant institutions, including the ACC, should not be eventually diminished to mere formalities and eyewash,' he added.

TIB also said that if the government and the ruling party wanted to demonstrate the minimum credibility of their promises, they must disclose the existing nature of high level power abuse, and publish a White Paper on corruption across institutions and sectors.​

 

[Saif]

'I want to grab (bank) loan defaulters'

Loan defaulters are going to get caught as the government moves to fix macroeconomic problems and increase foreign-exchange inflow, the finance minister said Sunday, ahead of his first test in authoring budget. "I want to grab the defaulters," Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali told reporters after a

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

'I want to grab (bank) loan defaulters'
Finance minister says
Published :
May 27, 2024 00:03
Updated :
May 27, 2024 00:03

Loan defaulters are going to get caught as the government moves to fix macroeconomic problems and increase foreign-exchange inflow, the finance minister said Sunday, ahead of his first test in authoring budget.

"I want to grab the defaulters," Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali told reporters after a meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive director Krishnamurthy Venkata Subramanian at his secretariat office in Dhaka.

Asked whether he would be able to take such tough action as the defaulters are very powerful, the finance minister said: "Let's see what happens."

At this stage, he hastened to refer to the actions taken against a former police chief whose assets have been ordered for confiscation.

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[Saif]

Benazir’s family bought 4 apartments in Gulshan in one day

Discover how Benazir's family acquired 4 apartments in Gulshan in a single day amidst corruption allegations and court orders to seize assets.

en.prothomalo.com

Benazir's family bought 4 apartments in Gulshan in one day
Information has been unearthed of another 276 bighas of land in the name of the wife of former Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed. The court orders to seize all the assets
Staff CorrespondentDhaka
Published: 27 May 2024, 21: 19

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in its investigation has got information of more wealth in the name of the family members of former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed.

The ACC said another 276 bighas (91 acres) of land is registered in the name of Jeeshan Mirza, wife of Benazir Ahmed. Apart from this, the anti-graft watchdog found four apartments registered in the name of Benazir Ahmed's wife and one of his daughters in the capital's upscale Gulshan area.

The size of the four apartments is 9,192 sqf. The apartments were bought on the same day (5 March 2023) within six months of the retirement of Benazir Ahmed. The price of the four apartments in the upscale area was shown at only Tk 21.9 million.

Besides the land and flats, ACC found that the wife and children of Benazir Ahmed own shares of 19 establishments and three BO (beneficiary owners account for share market business) accounts and Tk 3 million savings certificates.

Following an appeal of the ACC, Ash Shams Jaglul Hossain, a senior special metropolitan judge of Dhaka, Sunday ordered the seizure of the properties of the former IGP, his wife and their children from under 113 deeds, as well as four apartments in the capital's Gulshan.

ACC deputy director Hafizul Islam, also investigation officer, filed a written plea with the court on behalf of the ACC.

Mahmud Hossain Jahangir, public prosecutor of the ACC represented the anti-graft body at the court. He told the court that information of a huge amount of wealth of Benazir and his family has been received as the ACC sent letters to different districts seeking information of his assets.

The ACC prosecutor further said if the assets are not freezed and seized those could be handed over to others.

Following the hearing, the court passed the seizure and freeze order. Earlier on 23 May, the same court ordered to seize ex-IGP Benazir and his family members' 345 bighas (114 acres) of land under 83 deeds and freeze 33 accounts in various banks.

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