ACC temporarily freezes personal lockers of Bangladesh Bank officials

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has taken steps to temporarily freeze all personal lockers used by Bangladesh Bank officials to store wealth in the bank’s secure vault. 

The ACC suspects that these lockers may contain a large amount of undeclared assets.

On Tuesday, February 4, Kazi Sayemuzzaman, Director (Deputy Secretary) of the ACC, shared this information with the media. 

He mentioned that the ACC had already sent a letter to the Bangladesh Bank Governor on Sunday, asking for immediate action.

The letter explained that on January 26, following a court order, an ACC team, along with a magistrate, inspected the bank‍‍`s coin vault. 

The investigation was part of a probe into former Deputy Governor Sitangshu Kumar Sur Chowdhury. During the inspection of his sealed safe deposit containers, the team discovered 55,000 euros, 169,300 US dollars, over a kilogram of gold (1,005.4 grams), and fixed deposit receipts (FDR) worth 7 million BDT. 

None of these assets were declared in his regular tax returns.

While examining the vault’s records, the ACC also found that several other bank officials had similar sealed containers stored in the safe deposit vault. 

They suspect these too might hold undeclared assets. The ACC is currently investigating multiple complaints, including money laundering, against different levels of Bangladesh Bank officials.

The letter also mentioned a meeting that took place on January 30, between the Finance Adviser and the ACC Chairman. During this meeting, held from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, they discussed "ACC and Asset Recovery" and the issue of the assets stored in the Bangladesh Bank vault. 

The Finance Adviser gave his consent to temporarily freeze these assets.

A source within Bangladesh Bank confirmed that following the ACC’s request and the Finance Adviser’s approval, all the lockers inside the vault have now been sealed. 

This means that locker holders will not be able to withdraw any of their assets for the time being.

On Monday, the ACC submitted an application to the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge and Senior Special Judge, asking for permission to open the lockers and take inventory of the assets stored within them. 

The court is expected to issue a decision on Tuesday.

Once the court gives its approval, the ACC will apply to the Dhaka District Magistrate to appoint a magistrate, who will supervise the opening of the lockers, the counting of the assets, and the preparation of an official inventory within the next few days.