UN committee to assist Bangladesh repatriate siphoned off money

Dhaka, Jun 4 (UNI) The UN Counter Terrorism Committee has agreed to provide technical assistance to help Bangladesh repatriate money apprehended to have siphoned off abroad.

A visiting team from the Committee assured Bangladesh Central Bank Governor, Dr Salehuddin Ahmed of the cooperation at a meeting here today. The Governor sought cooperation of the committee in this regard.

''The UN role in this regard is to assist technically,''team leader Sergey Karev, assessment and technical assistance director of the committee, told reporters after the meeting.

He said the UN could negotiate with countries facing problems of money laundering. ''It may work or may not work,'' he said.

The Bangladesh interim government has initiated a drive to repatriate the laundered money from abroad as part of the country's ongoing anti-corruption drive.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahmed said,'' It's very difficult to bring back the laundered money from abroad and it's not possible only through understanding between the two central banks. It requires understanding between two governments,'' he added.

Bangladesh Bank is in the process to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UK-based Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to address the issue of money laundering.

Replying to a question, the Governor said that in fact, laundered money is not coming from abroad so far, but some funds were deposited with Bangladesh Bank locally.

He said the UN Committee expressed interest to provide Bangladesh relevant software, hardware and training to address the problem.

The 11-member UN Counter Terrorism Committee, led by Sergey, arrived here on Saturday on a week long visit to Bangladesh to exchange ideas on counter terrorism and anti-money laundering.

UNI