Not easy to pin down financial crimes: Muhith

Finance Minister AMA Muhith says it is not easy to bring perpetrators of financial crimes to justice.

“This is the first time we are trying to do it,” Muhith told editors of national dailies and TV channels during an interaction on Saturday.

“A lot of money has been stolen away,” he said when asked about scams such as Hall-Mark. “But it is important that we try to extract some benefits of whatever has been invested.”

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith

Muhith gave “examples of 1982” when he said “top 10 defaulters” were given the opportunity to run their businesses and repay the loans.

“Zahurul Islam, (Abul Khair) Litu, Beximco, Mahmudur Rahman were all defaulters,” said Muhith, who served as Finance Minister for 20 months under Chief Martial Law Administrator Lt Gen H M Ershad in the early 1980s.

“There are other people who are involved [in the Hall-Mark scam],” the minister said but did not elaborate.

Then he said: “It is very difficult to bring perpetrators of financial crimes to justice. This is the first time we are doing that.”

Responding to questions on Destiny, Muhith said the Ministry of Commerce was looking into that and that his ministry was “giving advice when necessary”.

Muhith came down heavily on strikes by the Opposition, saying they were trying to cripple the national economy through successive strikes.

“The main purpose of the political movement at the moment is not political,” he said. “The main purpose is to cripple the economy.”

The minister said he was on principle opposed to banning general strikes as a form of political protest.

“We cannot stop hartal. We cannot legislate against hartal,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we have turned it into an instrument of terror,” he said.