Money acquired through corruption funds terrorism, says Anti-Corruption Commission chief

Corruption and terrorism is now a ‘global problem’ and funds generated by corruption are used to finance militancy, says the Anti-Corruption Commission chief.

Speaking at a discussion on Sunday, ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood emphasised the need to eliminate ‘financial terrorism and militancy’.

The issue of terror-financing has come to the spotlight once again after the recent terror attacks in several countries, including Bangladesh.

On July 12, a court in Singapore convicted four Bangladesh nationals of financing terrorism and sentenced them to prison terms of two to five years.

According to media reports, several hundreds of NGOs operating in Bangladesh are involved in funding militant activities.

Citing a report by a financial intelligence body, a national daily recently ran a story, where it said NGOs collect funds of almost Tk 50 billion every year from overseas donors.

But no details of the money spent is available with the government.

“It’s clear that no one will put their hard-earned money into terrorism. So those who are funding militants are definitely corrupt,” ACC chief Mahmood told the discussion on Sunday.

The ACC hosted the discussion with representatives of the media over its five-year plan, where it prioritised developing its organisational capacity, investigation and prosecution.  

Mahmood said that the ACC decided at the beginning of this year to focus on the financial, education and health sectors.

“Millions of funds have been siphoned off through the banks, especially the private ones. There have been media reports on it.

“We have been probing the state-owned banks and will investigate the privately operated ones. The private banks should keep in mind that the public deposit money with them,” he said.

The ACC chief pointed the falling standard of education as one of the reasons behind corruption.

“The thing is now that children are being cleared just for attending classes. They are not even getting a chance to study.

“We have spoken to the education ministry. Schools will be prosecuted if they promote students to the next class without clearing all subjects,” said Mahmood.

He said that promoting students this way is ‘abuse of power.’

“Similarly, government-employed doctors who do not work in villages also abuse power. So, they will be also prosecuted,” said the ACC chief.

The ACC plans to hold similar meetings with university teachers and representatives of development organisations, said an ACC official.