ACC searching for Tk 35bn passport-visa processing fees 'missing in foreign ministry'

The Anti-Corruption Commission is trying to trace Tk 35 billion the foreign ministry was supposed to receive through the Bangladesh embassies and missions abroad as passport and visa processing fees.

The ACC has not yet launched a formal investigation, but commission spokesperson Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya said the commission formed a committee on Sunday 'to check the issue'.

The three-member committee headed by ACC Director Syed Iqbal Hossain has been given 30 working days to submit a report.

The two other members of the committee are ACC Deputy Director Muhammad Ahmaruzzaman and Assistant Director Gulshan Anwar.  

The money received by 65 missions under the foreign ministry from 2012 to 2016 was supposed to be submitted to the government exchequer through the home ministry.

An English daily recently ran a report citing a home ministry 'working paper' on the 'strange expenditure' by the foreign ministry.

Pranab Kumar said the ACC took cognisance of the report and decided in a meeting on Sunday to check the allegation.

Department of Immigration and Passports Director General Major General Md Masud Rezwan told bdnews24.com that the department submits the money collected in Bangladesh every month to the government exchequer through the home ministry.

"But the money collected abroad in this sector has never been submitted," he added.