ACC says it will scrutinise wealth of candidates in next election

The ACC will monitor information on their wealth found in the affidavits to be submitted by the candidates for the next general election, says Chairman Mohammad Mohiuddin Abdullah

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 21 March 2023, 12:50 PM
Updated : 21 March 2023, 12:50 PM

Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Mohammad Mohiuddin Abdullah says the anti-graft watchdog will keep an eye on the affidavits to be submitted by the candidates for the next general election.

“The commission will closely monitor the information on their wealth found in the affidavits of the candidates," he said at a media briefing on the agency’s annual report 2022 on Tuesday.

“The ACC will keep its eyes open this year. It will be free from influence. We are working to speed up our activities,” Mohiuddin said.

Asked about political influence interrupting the ACC’s stated function, Mohiuddin said, "The data on the agency speaks for itself -- our cases, investigations and inquiries have all improved.”

The ACC chief urged the media to determine the facts based on information instead of going off the opinions of others.

Mohiuddin shared highlights of the agency’s annual report with the media during the event at the ACC headquarters in Dhaka. The report was handed over to Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid on Monday.

“The president asked the commission to take strict action to prevent corruption in Bangladesh. He knows that the agency is trying its best to do so,” Mohiuddin said.

The commission received a total of 19,338 complaints in 2022. Of them, the ACC handled 901 complaints and sent 3,152 complaints, which were not under the agency's jurisdiction, to the relevant ministries to take necessary action, according to the report.

A total of 346 corruption cases were settled in 2022. Around 64.17 percent of the accused have been sentenced since the ACC’s founding in 2004, compared with 35.90 percent in the entire period of the erstwhile anti-corruption bureau.

“The report was prepared based on specific information, without any emotional bias or exaggeration. The ACC is stronger than before and it is more effective internally and externally,” ACC Commissioner Mozammel Haque Khan said in response to a question about the people’s trust in the agency.

"Domestic corruption has not increased, it has decreased,” said ACC Commissioner Jahurul Haque. “But we have not been able to stop domestic corruption. But it is wrong to say that our capacity to handle cases has eroded.”

“The commission has had a 100 percent success rate in handling money-laundering cases. Up to 70 percent of sentences in other cases were in favour of the ACC. It is much more capable of investigating and handling cases than before.”