DHAKA, Sept 13, V7N — The government has formed a seven-member inter-ministerial committee to give opinions and take decisions on recovery of taxes and duties from bank accounts abroad that have been frozen by court orders in connection with assets allegedly siphoned out of the country.
The Financial Institutions Division (FID) of the Ministry of Finance issued a gazette notification today, announcing the formation of the committee. The committee has been formed under the leadership of the Attorney General to take coordinated initiatives for recovering government dues from bank accounts frozen or attached under court orders.
According to the notification signed by Deputy Secretary Afroz Akter Riba of the Central Bank Wing of the FID, the Attorney General of Bangladesh will serve as the convener of the committee.
The members of the committee are the Additional Secretary of the Central and Commercial Banking Wing of the Financial Institutions Division, Director General of the Money Laundering Wing of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), chief of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), Director General of the Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Organised Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police.
The Director General of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) of the NBR will serve as the member-secretary. As per the terms of reference, the committee will determine necessary legal and other measures for recovering government taxes and duties from accounts frozen or attached by court orders in connection with assets allegedly siphoned abroad.
It will review existing laws and regulations and make decisions and recommendations on what legal measures need to be taken, through which procedures the state's dues can be recovered, and how effective coordination among the concerned agencies can be ensured.
The committee will also recommend measures to address legal and administrative complexities that may arise in recovering taxes and duties from money or assets frozen abroad under court orders.
The government considers coordinated action important as several agencies are involved in investigating siphoned-off assets, collecting information, tracing financial transactions and managing assets frozen under court directives.
The committee will formulate necessary recommendations and submit them to the appropriate authorities.
The formation of the committee is expected to create a coordinated framework for advancing the legal process concerning assets siphoned abroad as well as ensuring recovery of taxes and duties due to the state.
The initiative has been taken to make ongoing efforts to recover and repatriate siphoned-off money and assets more effective while ensuring the government's revenue interests, according to concerned sources.
The committee will particularly examine the legal and administrative challenges involved in recovering taxes and duties from funds or assets abroad after they have been frozen under court orders and recommend necessary measures.
The Finance Ministry's initiative is expected to strengthen coordination among the agencies concerned and create greater scope for effective measures to protect the country's financial interests in the process of recovering assets allegedly siphoned abroad.
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