The government will allow police to involve in the investigation and trial process of anti-money laundering cases, officials said.
The National Coordination Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing Terrorism has taken the decision at a meeting yesterday to involve police in the anti-money laundering cases, and make an amendment to the anti-money laundering law.
Financial Institutions Division (BFID) Secretary M Aslam Alam and officials of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), the anti-money laundering wing of the central bank, attended the meeting presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
The BFID official said the anti-money laundering law 2012 will be amended, according to the decision of coordination committee meeting.
The loggerheads between the Home Ministry and Anti-Corruption Commission over police involvement is now solved through the decision of getting police involved in laundering case investigation, he added.
The official said: “Such disagreement is causing delay to dissolve the anti-money laundering cases. Besides, the government has also international pressure to amend the current law to maintain international standard,”
Since 2009, the anti-graft body inquired 285 cases of money laundering. Of them, 254 were filed and 112 charge sheeted.
The court settled three cases and the ACC won all of them. The ACC confiscated 1,011 bank accounts found linked with money laundering while the frozen accounts had around Tk289 crore.
On August 6 last year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Finance came up with some suggestions to have a stronger anti-graft body which can better deal with money laundering.
A good number of cases relating to cash transactions and suspicious transactions are currently under the central bank monitoring.
The central bank has the authority to fine the banks and financial institutions for violation of the law.
A proposal to increase the rate of penalty might be placed, said official sources.
The Anti-money Laundering Act, 2012, was passed in the Parliament in February, 2012.
Financial Action Task Force and Asia Pacific Group, two international anti-money laundering watchdogs, keep putting pressure on the Bangladesh government to amend the anti-money laundering law to elevate that to international standard.