The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will carry out its own verification and investigation based on asset declarations submitted by candidates in the upcoming national elections to the Election Commission.
ACC Chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah on Tuesday said that as the 12th national parliament election is scheduled to be held late this year or at the beginning of 2024, the ACC will remain vigilant for a year.
Especially those who will contest the polls, their affidavits will be scrutinized, he said.
The ACC chairman was speaking to journalists on at the ACC office in Segunbagicha of the capital on Tuesday afternoon.
The anti-graft body's chief said once they get the proper information from the Election Commission and other related organizations that would be checked.
During the briefing, the journalists asked the commission about the wealth statements of different candidates and also informed the commission that the income of several candidates have doubled, tripled or more over the last few years.
Regarding this, the commission said they will pay attention to such candidates' wealth statements who earned a huge amount of wealth.
Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah presented the commission's annual report 2022 to the president at Bangabhaban on Monday evening.
Upon learning about the activities of ACC, President Abdul Hamid gave some directions, said the ACC chairman.
Moinuddin Abdullah also said that the president has asked them to take a stricter stance against corruption. ACC is working as much as possible with transparency, and the president has been informed about this.
When reporters asked about the Basic Bank corruption, he said: "The cases are ongoing."
When asked about the 'money laundering' of Dubai's gold businessman Arav Khan, he said: “We do not have any such information; ACC will work if they get any information.”
The ACC chairman also said: "We have progressed a lot compared to previous years in proving corruption cases in court... The number of cases is increasing.”
In response to another query, ACC Commissioner Mozammel Haque Khan said that although other agencies also deal with money laundering, the commission may not have worked as per people's expectations.
But the commission tries to better use its existing capacity, he added.
Dr Mozammel Haque Khan said: "The Anti-Corruption Commission is in a much better position than the previous years. In areas where people's confidence needs to increase, it has increased. ACC is much more active, and it could be understood by the activities of the ACC.”
The president has expressed his satisfaction with the activities of the ACC and gave some suggestions. He (the president) also thinks that people's trust in the ACC has increased, said the ACC commissioner.
Another commissioner, Md Zahurul Haque, said that the evidence of what ACC has done is in the records. In particular, ACC has done a good job of confiscating property and recovering money for the state. It is more profitable to collect a fine than to send someone to jail. ACC is doing just that.
He also said that although not 100%, the internal corruption of ACC has decreased a lot.
When asked about the observation of human rights organizations on ACC, he said:"They gave false information about the commission.”
Analyzing the ACC's 2022 annual report, it was found that ACC received 19,338 complaints last year.
However, out of 19,338, 3,152 complaints have been sent to various ministries for action.
In 2022, 224 chargesheets were approved, 406 cases were filed, and only four trap cases were filed.