Graft complaints rose 25% in 2016, but fewer cases were filed: ACC

Last year saw a rise in corruption complaints, but cases were fewer in comparison, the Anti-Corruption Commission or ACC has said in a report.

The number of complaints rose by 25 percent to 12,990 in 2016 in signs of growing trust in the graft watchdog, according to the report submitted to President Md Abdul Hamid by ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood on Wednesday.

Only 359 cases were filed in 2016, which means the ACC was “more cautious” in selecting the cases for prosecution, it said. In 2015, 529 cases were filed out of 10,415 complaints.

The watchdog investigated 1,007 complaints in 2016 and sent recommendations to ministries for necessary measures on 588 complaints.

In 2016, the ACC approved charges in 535 cases, while the number was 618 in the previous year.

A total of 300 cases were resolved by the Special Judge’s Court in 2016. Of them, 214 were filed by the ACC, while the remaining 86 date back to the time of the now-abolished Anti-Corruption Bureau. 

The ACC reported that sentences were awarded in 54 percent of ACC cases in 2016. As for the bureau’s cases, 45 percent saw penalties being handed down.

The watchdog arrested 388 individuals in 2016, a steep rise from the previous year.