Why is embezzled money not being returned

The interim government has published a white paper on the corruption that took place during the Awami League’s tenure. The white paper states that over the past 15 years, $234 billion have been illegally laundered from Bangladesh abroad through 28 different means. Eminent individuals of the country prepared this white paper in a very short time. This valuable white paper is full of speculative information and inconsistencies. These capable experts described the history of corruption in a 400-page white paper within three months; yet, even after six months of publishing the white paper, the government has not managed to detain a single thief. The Awami League government had started catching thieves even without a white paper, and the corruption records of IGP Benazir Ahmed and National Board of Revenue’s Matiur Rahman were widely reported in the media. But have only Benazir and Matiur stolen the entire $234 billion? If not, there must be more thieves.

The interim government has no time to waste identifying corrupt individuals from the past 15 years; they are busy with more important matters. In this situation, they should rather focus on preventing the theft and bribery during their own tenure. It would purify the country to a large extent and elevate the nation. Hearing the words of Awami League’s General Secretary Obaidul Quader, the interim government has also adopted a ‘zero tolerance’ policy against corruption. Under the strict zero tolerance policy, the peon of Sheikh Hasina’s residence became the owner of Tk 400 crore. Despite the zero tolerance of the interim government, the corruption stories of the advisers’ PAs or PSs that have come out in the media are downright horrifying. BNP is also talking about zero tolerance. The party’s Joint Secretary General Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie has declared that if BNP comes to power, it will adopt a zero-tolerance policy against corruption. Jamaat-e-Islami wants honest people to govern, but whether they have spoken of zero tolerance is unknown. During BNP's rule—despite their belief in zero tolerance—the country became the champion in corruption five times in a row.

Some of the money laundered abroad during BNP’s tenure was recovered from Singapore by the Awami League government. But the Awami League never tried to bring back any of the money laundered during their own tenure. Nor was it expected. No government ever investigates or identifies bribery and corruption committed during its own rule. The Awami League had started the process but didn’t finish it. After the casino scandal, the anti-corruption drives suddenly stopped. Because the party in power did not take a strong stance against corruption, bribery and embezzlement became pervasive. Until a government is ousted, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) never finds a trace of corruption within the ruling party; but the very next day after they lose power, the list of corruption starts pouring in. Now, as soon as allegations are brought against Awami League leaders, they will start chanting in unison: “political vendetta.” BNP had been saying the same thing all these years.

The first task of any party-led government upon assuming power is to withdraw all cases filed against their leaders and activists. When the army-backed Dr Fakhruddin’s caretaker government filed cases against Awami League leaders and activists, the Awami League withdrew all of them as soon as they returned to power. BNP did the same. During the current interim government’s tenure, many cases against both BNP and Jamaat members have already been resolved or are going to be settled through executive orders. However, it is not that politically motivated cases never occur; since the government has all the tools at its disposal to harass the opposition, they can even plant a pistol or heroin on a top opposition leader if they wish. During the BNP-Jamaat alliance’s rule, a case was filed against Awami League leader Saber Hossain Chowdhury accusing him of stealing ‘plates’ from a ferry. Saber Hossain Chowdhury is not only wealthy, but also a gentleman. As long as this trend of withdrawing all cases—regardless of truth or falsity—continues, bribery, corruption, and crime will never be eliminated from the country.

Bribery and corruption have become a national disease, but no one wants to treat it. The interim government’s advisor for power, energy, and mineral resources, Muhammad Faozul Kabir Khan, has said the same thing: politicians and bureaucrats alike do not want corruption to end. He also mentioned waste and inefficiency. The planning advisor, a soft-spoken man, softly said that bribery and corruption are still alive and well in the country. Like the energy advisor, he also mentioned waste. Regretfully, he noted that if unnecessary perks and benefits for officials and staff involved in development projects were reduced or eliminated, instability would increase within the administration. Out of fear of such instability, unnecessary expenses in projects are not being eliminated. Then why is Dr Muhammad Yunus foaming at the mouth over reform? He cannot even handle it himself. If a party-led government comes to power, no one will even mention reform—because then the power of party-affiliated labour organisations will be unstoppable. Any official not listening to the workers would be labelled as ‘an ally of dictatorship.’

The interim government is being selective in uncovering corruption; they are only talking about corruption over the past 15 years. But the Awami League governed before as well—was there no corruption then? Listening to the interim government and various political parties, one would think only the Awami League is corrupt, and that removing Awami League people from the administration will eliminate corruption from the country. If that is what the interim government truly believes, then how did Bangladesh become the corruption champion five consecutive times during BNP's tenure? Still, BNP activists and supporters do not believe that their top leaders could be corrupt. The same applies to Awami League and Jatiya Party; supporters of both parties also don’t believe their top leaders can steal or take bribes. Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus rightly said, people ‘take money and vote.’ Because of blind loyalty to party symbols and the abundance of vote-buying, corrupt individuals are repeatedly elected, and corrupt people are nominated as candidates.

No government has ever reformed bribery and corruption, and no government ever will. On the other hand, no matter how many reforms are introduced, money laundering will not stop, and laundered money will not return. When bribery and corruption are rampant, excess money needs to be laundered abroad, because there’s no system to hide so much money within the country. During Saifur Rahman’s tenure as finance minister, a specialist doctor who was on the board of directors of Bangladesh Bank would readily provide his foreign account number to bribe-payers without hesitation—this story I heard from the widely respected former Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank, the late Allah Malik Kazemi. He also used to say, the stricter the laws become, the more bribery and corruption increase. Not all the money laundered abroad is from bribery or corruption—some of it is honestly earned. Since taking personal money abroad is prohibited, all transferred funds are considered illegal. But in wealthy countries, where no such restrictions exist, people can transfer money abroad without permission, and those countries neither call it laundering nor consider it illegal.

Corruption also takes place under the government's patronage; in order to suppress potential alternative leadership, opportunities for deliberate corruption must be provided. Even if someone isn’t corrupt, it doesn’t take the government long to turn them into one. During the Awami League era, there were several disputes over the income tax files of Hefazat-e-Islam’s leaders; whenever such disputes arose, they held unconditional meetings with the Home Minister and stopped criticising the government. It’s said that during the interim government’s rule, there were also disputes over the files of some agitating leaders within the National Board of Revenue. During President Ziaur Rahman and President Ershad’s time, opportunities were given to rivals to engage in corruption, and records of that corruption were prepared in case they were ever needed. On this topic, one statement from the late Awami League politician Tofail Ahmed is significant. During Dr Fakhruddin’s caretaker government, top leaders of both Awami League and BNP had attempted to build alternative leadership to Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia. Because of this, leaders like Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed and several others were neglected within the Awami League. Regarding his own actions during that time, Tofail Ahmed explained that there were disputes about his income tax file, and even if everything in it was accurate, it wouldn’t be difficult to find faults. So, under secret threats from the government, he was forced to abandon the idea of forming alternative leadership within the Awami League.

The chief adviser of the interim government is absolutely right in his observation: elections are all about money. A grand festival of bribery and corruption is going on across the country. Even thieves want justice for theft, and rapists speak out against rape. At Ganabhaban, holy scriptures are looted, ducks, chickens, fish, tables, chairs, fans, sarees, blouses, petticoats, bras—all are looted. Another disgraceful incident took place at the national fruit festival. Those who looted Ganabhaban and the fruit festival were not hungry people, not starving skeleton-like wanderers, not the rice-begging poor, distressed or beggars. They were well-dressed men in pants, shirts, pyjamas, panjabis, and women in expensive sarees and kameezes. Many of them were doctors, engineers, bankers, journalists, lawyers, businessmen, Islamic scholars, imams, muezzins—from the country’s top madrasas, colleges, and universities. If given the chance, this ‘ashraful makhlukat’ (best of creation) won’t just steal from Ganabhaban or the fruit festival—they will also steal while sitting on the throne of power. Corruption and theft will never end in this country, because in power even a thief becomes a saint, and when power is lost, even a saint turns into a thief.

Zeauddin Ahmed: Former Executive Director, Bangladesh Bank