Amended Money Laundering Act Government should rethink(Vocabulary)

Date: 16-10-2015
Editorial of The Daily Star

Amended (সংশোধিত) Money Laundering Act
Government should rethink (পুনর্বিবেচনা)

While we understand the need to trace (অনুসন্ধান) and block the illegal transfer of monies inside and outside the country, our fear is that the newly amended anti-laundering act could potentially be misused. That the investigative agencies are being empowered to seize local property of those accused, bypassing (উপেক্ষা করে) the court system entirely, would open up the Pandora's Box.

The original law states that investigating authorities can issue order, upon approval of the court, to confiscate (বাজেয়াপ্ত করা) illegally earned money while the new ordinance (অধ্যাদেশ) stipulates (শর্ত দেয়), “If a property, money or income linked to money laundering cannot be traced the accused person's money or property of equal value can be confiscated or seized.” And that is what begs_the_question (যে বিষয় সম্পর্কে সন্দেহ রয়েছে তা মেনে নেওয়া). An accused has to be proven guilty and allowed the opportunity to defend himself. Moreover, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), which will no longer be answerable to the central bank on investigations launched by it, will have an oversight_authority (সামগ্রিক ক্ষমতা) over it. On the other hand, who is to ascertain (নিশ্চয়তা দেওয়া) the veracity (সত্যনিষ্ঠা) of the findings of the investigating body? Bypassing the judiciary may expedite (ত্বরান্বিত করা) investigations, but, the courts are there for a reason; it allows an accused to defend himself in the face of accusation (অভিযোগ).

Though being touted as a prerequisite (পূর্বশর্ত) for effectively combating laundering money and terror_financing (সন্ত্রাসে অর্থায়ন), it is imperative (আবশ্যক) for the BFIU to have some form of surveillance (সন্দেহজনক ব্যক্তির উপর নজরদারি, পাহারা) by the central bank. The government should reconsider the idea of making an investigating authority also the adjudicating_authority (বিচারপূর্বক সিদ্ধান্ত দেওয়ার ক্ষমতা)

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পুলিশ ক্যাডার প্রত্যাশী