BFIU submits report to HC on money launderers named in Panama, Paradise papers

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has submitted a report to the High Court that names 69 Bangladeshi individuals cited in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, the leaked financial documents that have revealed corruption on a global scale.

"We helped different agencies, including the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), to gather and provide information about those individuals and organisations that have appeared in the media in the wake of the leaked financial scandals," it added in the report.

Deputy Attorney General Amin Uddin Manik on Wednesday presented to the High Court as an affidavit, the report with names of individuals and organisations involved in money laundering.

Later, the bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Md Mostafuzur Rahman set next Sunday for a hearing on the matter.

The list of money laundering individuals and organisations from Dhaka include Abdul Awal Mintu, Nasreen Fatema Awal, Tabith Awal, Tafsir Awal, Tajwar Md Awal, Chowdhury Faisal, Ahmed Samir, Brummer & Partners Asset Management (Bangladesh) Ltd, Moosa Bin Shamser, Fazle Elahi, KH Asadul Islam, Zulfiqar Ahmed, Imran Rahman, Eric Johnson Andres Wilson WMG Ltd, Farhan Yakubur Rahman, Amanullah Chagla, Mahtaba Rahman, Shahnaz Huda Razzak, Mohammad A Awal and Mohammad Malek from Chattogram, and Tajul Islam Tajul and Faruk Palwan from Narayanganj.

Bangladeshi individuals and organisations abroad, include Mughal Farida in New York, Shahid Ullah in Texas, Mohammad Atikuzzaman in Moscow, Mohammad Rezaul Haque in Malta, and Mahmud Hossain and the Global Education System in Ireland.

The HC on 6 December last year directed the BFIU to inform it about measures taken against those individuals and organisations.

The court issued the order after a hearing on the list of 69 individuals and organisations involved in money laundering that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) submitted to the High Court on that day.

According to the BFIU report, the financial intelligence agency submitted 4,507 intelligence reports to various organisations, including the ACC, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), police, and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) over the last five years, after investigating and gathering information on money launderers from local and foreign sources.

Of those, it submitted 1,487 reports in financial year 2020-21, 867 in 2029-20, 553 in 2018-19, 1197 in 2017-18, and 403 in 2016-17, which can help agencies taking legal action.

On 3 October 2021, the HC said those who have built "Begum Paras" outside the country and siphoned off money abroad to other countries, are the real money launderers and that the ACC should take action against them.