[🇧🇩] Corruption Watch

[Saif]

ACC Chairman: Padma Bridge graft case was shelved despite ample evidence

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah on Tuesday said that despite having substantial evidence of irregularities, the much-discussed Padma Multipurpose Bridge graft case was prematurely closed, and the accused were exempted from trial. He made the remarks while talk

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

ACC Chairman: Padma Bridge graft case was shelved despite ample evidence

UNB
Published :
Jul 01, 2025 21:46
Updated :
Jul 01, 2025 21:46

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah on Tuesday said that despite having substantial evidence of irregularities, the much-discussed Padma Multipurpose Bridge graft case was prematurely closed, and the accused were exempted from trial.

He made the remarks while talking to reporters at the ACC headquarters in Dhaka’s Segunbagicha this afternoon.

“The case’s initial investigation report was flawed and incomplete. We have decided to revive it with a comprehensive and evidence-based submission,” said the ACC chief.

Referring to irregularities in the procurement process of consultants for the Padma Bridge project, Moinuddin Abdullah noted that although there were clear grounds for legal action, the previous commission submitted an FRT (Final Report True), effectively ending the case.

“When the current commission took over in December, we reassessed the matter and felt that the case was shelved forcefully. It needs to be revived, and we’ve already begun a fresh investigation,” he added.

Citing specific violations of public procurement rules, he said the evaluation committee for the project was changed several times with ill intent. “Such changes indicate malafide intentions. Items that were supposed to be reusable were shown to be procured multiple times, which is financially unjustifiable,” he noted.

The ACC chief pointed out several breaches of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) and Public Procurement Rules (PPR), saying CVs of consultants were not properly evaluated and committee meetings required by law were either skipped or inadequately conducted.

“Based on these factors, we believe the earlier report was fundamentally defective, whether due to pressure or negligence. This time, our investigating officer will submit a complete and independent report, and the case will be reopened,” he affirmed.

In 2012, the World Bank suspended its USD 1.2 billion loan commitment for the Padma Bridge project, citing concerns over corruption. On December 17 of that year, the ACC filed a case with Banani Police Station against seven individuals.

The prime accused was then Bridges Division Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, who was arrested and suspended from his position. He was later released on bail and reinstated.​

 

[Saif]

ACC launches probe against five NBR commissioners, officers

There are allegations that the concerned tax officials take hefty sums in the name of processing these refunds.

en.prothomalo.com

ACC launches probe against five NBR commissioners, officers

Staff Correspondent Dhaka
Published: 03 Jul 2025, 18: 42

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has initiated an investigation against five more officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The commission made the disclosure through a press release on Thursday. The officials under investigation are Md Kamruzzaman, commissioner of Benapole Customs House; Kazi Mohammad Ziauddin, commissioner of Dhaka East Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate; Sehela Siddika, additional tax commissioner of the Income Tax Division; Md Mamun Mia, deputy tax commissioner; and Lokman Ahmed, tax inspector.

Sehela Siddika is the secretary general of the NBR reform unity council, which led the recent movement in NBR. Multiple NBR officials told Prothom Alo that the investigation is being used as a means of harassment in retaliation for the movement.

According to the ACC press release, unscrupulous NBR members and officials are facilitating tax evasion in exchange for large sum of bribes, and allowing some specific taxpayers to pay less than their actual dues for their mutual benefits.

In the aftermath, the government is losing significant revenue each year. In some cases, officials file false tax evasion cases against business owners if bribes are not paid, further harassing them.

The ACC said some taxpayers pay advance or excess taxes, and the law mandates that any overpaid amount must be refunded. It was learned from data analysis and complaints that to receive such refunds, taxpayers often have to pay additional bribes or offer gifts, sometimes amounting to half the refund.

There are allegations that the concerned tax officials take hefty sums in the name of processing these refunds.

Earlier, the ACC launched investigations into 11 high-ranked NBR officials, including two NBR members. Among them is Hasan Muhammad Tarek Rikabdar, the president of the NBR reform unity council.​

 

[Saif]

Public servants top ACC cases

The involvement of government officials and employees in various forms of corruption, including amassing illegal wealth, bribery, abuse of power, and money laundering, has increased manifold in recent years in Bangladesh.

www.newagebd.net

Public servants top ACC cases
Solamain Salman 06 July, 2025, 00:29

The involvement of government officials and employees in various forms of corruption, including amassing illegal wealth, bribery, abuse of power, and money laundering, has increased manifold in recent years in Bangladesh.

Government officials now top the list of corruption cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission, followed by private jobholders, business people, politicians, and public representatives, according to ACC data.

According to experts, corruption by government officials is increasing as corrupt officials are not being punished after committing corruption and they advised the government to ensure a quick disposal of the ACC cases for prompt punishment.

Asked about the trend of the graft cases, former ACC director general Md Moyeedul Islam told New Age, ‘In our country, no one faces consequences for corruption; instead, they gain social status and as such involvementw in corruption, including by government officials, is increasing.’New Age merchandise

The ACC is mostly working over corruption by government officials, but they are not working much over money laundering and amassing wealth beyond known sources of income by other people, which is also a reason for higher numbers of government officials accused of corruption, he further said.

Noting that the social and political environment in the country is also conducive to corruption, he said that there were strong laws against corruption but graft is not being prevented due to lack of effectiveness of the ACC and of goodwill of government and political parties.

Data show that the ACC conducted inquiries over 292 complaints from January to March this year and filed total 153 cases against 477 people over graft allegations. Of the accused, 144 were government officials, 113 private jobholders, 60 politicians, 44 businesspeople, 11 public representatives, and 105 from other professions.

The number of government officials in the list of accused during the January-March period is more than the number for the 12 months in 2023.

In 2024, the ACC filed cases against 346 government jobholders, 187 private jobholders, 71 businesspeople, 32 politicians, 30 public representatives, and 205 other professions.

In 2023, 120 accused were government jobholders, 33 private jobholders, eight business people, two politicians, 12 public representatives and 50 from other professions.

Contacted, ACC director general (prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain told New Age that the ACC was focusing on offences by government officials as per the ACC law because most of the accused in corruption cases were public servants.’New Age merchandise

He said, ‘The ACC is working with utmost sincerity to prevent corruption by government officials as well as corruption by other people as per the relevant law.’

Data show that the country’s government offices also heavily indulged in corruption during the Awami League regime when people could not get services from most of the offices without bribe.

According to a Transparency International Bangladesh survey titled ‘Corruption in Service Sectors: National Household Survey 2023’ released in December, 2024, the Department of Immigration and Passports was found to be the most corrupt service provider, followed by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, and law enforcing agencies.Bangladesh-themed souvenirs

The survey also found that almost 71 per cent of the surveyed households faced corruption while getting service in 2023 while 50.8 per cent of the households had to pay bribes to get service.

Service seekers paid an estimated Tk 1.46 lakh crore in bribes between 2009 and April 2024 to access essential facilities during the tenure of the Awami League regime, said the survey.

After the fall of the Awami league regime on August 5, 2024 amid a student-led mass uprising and the formation of Professor Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, the ACC has intensified its anti-graft drive across the country.

As a result, the ACC filed a total of 399 cases over the past year between July 2024 and June 2025 on charges of corruption and money laundering against many influential people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her family members, former ministers, lawmakers, senior bureaucrats, police and army officials, and businesspeople.

Data show that a total of 768 inquiries were initiated from July 2024 year to June this year and 399 cases were filed while charge sheets were submitted in 321 cases.

Although the ACC is officially an independent organisation, it has long faced criticism for operating under government influence and the fallen AL government often used the ACC as a tool to harass opposition people in the past.

ACC chair Mohammad Abdul Momen at a press briefing past month, however, said that they were working based on evidence and following law.

Anyone currently in power will also be investigated if specific allegations were raised against them, he said.

Transparency International in its Corruption Perception Index 2024 indicated that corruption was increasing in Bangladesh as the country slipped by steps in its global Corruption Perception Index to 151, jointly with Congo and Iran.Bangladesh-themed souvenirs

Bangladesh has scored 23 to become the 14th most corrupt country globally and the second most corrupt state in South Asia, only ahead of Afghanistan scoring 17. In 2023, Bangladesh ranked 149th with a score of 24, according to the report.​

 

[Saif]

Prospect of recovering non-performing loans

Much of the country's economic haemorrhage owes to a gargantuan size of non-performing loans (NPLs). Banks that extended or were made to sanction such loans have bled white and would have collapsed long ago but for the injection of cash by the central bank in order to keep them afloat. However the

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Prospect of recovering non-performing loans

Published :
Jul 07, 2025 23:24
Updated :
Jul 07, 2025 23:24

Much of the country's economic haemorrhage owes to a gargantuan size of non-performing loans (NPLs). Banks that extended or were made to sanction such loans have bled white and would have collapsed long ago but for the injection of cash by the central bank in order to keep them afloat. However the overall liquidity crisis suffered by the banking sector including non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) was due to siphoning off the borrowed money abroad instead of investing in the stated productive sectors. The interim government's effort to bring back the laundered money amounting, according to experts, to Tk 1.0 trillion has failed because governments and various agencies of the destination countries did not cooperate in repatriation of the money stashed away in their banks. So the next course of action was to salvage the situation as much as possible by using both persuasive and coercive methods.

The loan-recovery committee formed by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) has made notable progress in solving the problem of default loans. It has already settled some 60 cases involving Tk 3.0 billion. The details of how each specific case was settled are not known but the broad rules governing the process have been made public. Some defaulters were allowed loan-rescheduling opportunity for the last time with a guarantee of repayment, others were granted an extension of loan-repayment period and still others, who opted for a business-exit plan, interest waiver in favour of repayment of the principal amount of loans. The 'guarantee of repayment' clause sounds good but has this been backed by a foolproof mechanism for repayment of the loans in instalment? The defaulters have a long history of adopting such a ploy to defer repayment. They are unlikely to let go any opportunity to abuse the agreement. So, it would be in the fairness of the fresh arrangement to use their existing assets as the collateral. They may buy time until the national election when the equation may once again shift in their favour.

Clearly, settlement of this order is impossible without concessions. But even if a good portion of the embezzled money and NPLs can be recovered through some concessions, the exercise is better than leaving the matter unattended. The positive vibe generated in case of the 60 cases settled seems to have encouraged some biggies known for their massive default culture to show their willingness for such mediated settlements. Reportedly, the committee has received more than 1,200 applications from companies and corporate houses including some large conglomerates. If they are sincere in striking workable and effective deals, the country's banking sector and the economy stand a chance of turning around.

This is certainly an opportunity for the erring big business houses to mend their ways. They can revive business fortune and restore confidence if they go by the respective letter of the rescheduling agreements. In this case, the most outstanding factor the loan-settling committee has emphasised is the verification of repayment capability of the defaulted companies. So, the committee has made recommendation for auditing those business houses' annual revenue earnings by reputed international auditors. Well, if the companies pass the test, they will qualify for the committee-determined ways of repayment of their loans. If everything goes well, at least some semblance of streamlining banking operation and economic order can be restored.​

 

[Saif]

7.2m taxpayers do not file returns: NBR

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan has revealed that 7.2 million individual taxpayers do not file their income tax returns despite having a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). He said among those who do file tax returns, around 3 million are not paying income tax.

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

7.2m taxpayers do not file returns: NBR

Published :
Jul 14, 2025 20:38
Updated :
Jul 14, 2025 20:38

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan has revealed that 7.2 million individual taxpayers do not file their income tax returns despite having a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).

He said among those who do file tax returns, around 3 million are not paying income tax.

The NBR, citing the chairman, disclosed the information at a media briefing on Monday, reports bdnews24.com.

The briefing, citing information from the income tax department’s revenue collection review meeting in July, mentioned that the NBR chairman has instructed officials to encourage non-filers with a TIN to submit their tax returns.

He directed the maximum utilisation of manpower to ensure return filing, saying: “To collect the necessary funds for state administration, there is no alternative to increasing the income tax share of total revenue collection.

“We have repeatedly failed to meet this target. In the outgoing fiscal year, the income tax sector’s share of the NBR’s total revenue collection has not increased, but rather decreased slightly.”

Quoting the chairman, the NBR press release said: “To increase income tax collection, it must be collected from 7.2 million taxpayers who do not file income tax returns despite having TINs, and about 3 million taxpayers who do not pay income tax despite filing returns, according to their ability.”

Abdur urged income tax officials to prioritise these 10 million taxpayers in the new fiscal year 2025-26.

He also directed to find new taxpayers by strengthening survey and spot assessment activities.

The NBR chief directed the commissioners in the meeting to increase the collection of outstanding taxes during the discussion.

He also asked the taxpayers to complete the transfer of all documents within this month to “ensure harassment-free service”.​