New Bangladeshi Government Targets Corruption

The change of government in Bangladesh and the stated intentions of the newly installed interim Prime Minister Mohammad Yunus to pursue former government ministers and other state actors suspected of amassing significant assets from their corrupt activities, is welcome news – whilst we have been there before, this time could be different.

Recent media reporting has exposed the alleged corrupt activities of former Bangladeshi land minister, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, who used illicit proceeds to build a £150M+ property portfolio in the UK, with extensive real estate interests in the U.S., and UAE.

Bangladesh will be able to call on the assistance of international partners and work with them to trace and recover criminal proceeds in the possession of these corrupt PEPs and their proxies. They can use those relationships to build and maintain a resilient anti-corruption framework where PEPs will face intense and regular scrutiny in respect of their financial affairs.

It is imperative that the UK authorities act against corrupt PEPs and their proxies, such as family members, business associates and their professional enablers, the legal and financial advisors.

We can all contribute to the fight against grand corruption – Law enforcement agencies have the mandate and the legal authority, but civil society and private companies also have a crucial role in holding governments to account and the ability to undertake their own investigations, as well as working with LEAs for the common good.

In the UK, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, provides both criminal and civil recovery powers to the relevant authorities to investigate and recover assets held by corrupt PEPs on behalf of other jurisdictions, where they have used the UK’s financial system to launder their ill-gotten gains.

Inter-jurisdictional collaboration through the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) framework is an integral part of the asset recovery process, where formal requests for assistance are made via the respective Central Authority of the jurisdictions concerned. Other widely used channels for international enquiries are the Interpol and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) networks; both have different roles but are equally important in ensuring that timely interventions can be made to prevent suspects from evading justice, and assets further dissipated.

_We work with NGOs and civil society organisations to identify and investigate UK assets corruptly acquired by PEPs, so that relevant information is brought to the attention of and acted upon by Government and law enforcement authorities. Constant vigilance is required to ensure that corrupt PEPs and other malign actors are not able to launder their ill-gotten gains through the UK. _