Seven-Member Committee Formed to Determine Tax and Duty Collection from Frozen Accounts Holding Smuggled Assets

PNN News Desk | Dhaka

The government has formed a seven-member inter-ministerial committee to determine how taxes and duties owed to the state can be recovered from bank accounts containing assets allegedly siphoned abroad and subsequently frozen or attached under court orders. The committee will determine the legal and administrative measures required to recover the government's dues from such blocked assets.

The Financial Institutions Division's Central Bank Branch of the Ministry of Finance issued a notification regarding the matter on Sunday (September 13). The notification, signed by Deputy Secretary Afroza Akter Riba, formally announced the formation of the committee.

According to the notification, the Attorney General has been appointed convener of the committee. Other members include the Additional Secretary of the Central and Commercial Banking Wing of the Financial Institutions Division, the Director General of the Anti-Corruption Commission's (ACC) Money Laundering Wing, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), the Director General of the National Board of Revenue's (NBR) Central Intelligence Cell (CIC), and the Deputy Inspector General of the Organised Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police.

The Director General of the NBR's Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) has been appointed member-secretary of the committee.

One of the committee's main responsibilities will be to provide decisions and recommendations on how the government's taxes and duties can be recovered from court-frozen or attached bank accounts containing assets allegedly transferred abroad.

To this end, the committee will review existing laws and regulations. It will also examine what legal measures are necessary to recover the state's dues, what procedures can be followed to implement those measures, and how coordination among the relevant agencies can be strengthened.

The investigation of money and assets transferred abroad, tracing the movement of funds, taking action concerning related bank accounts and dealing with assets frozen under court orders require the involvement of several government agencies. Officials believe the inter-ministerial committee has been assigned these responsibilities in order to address coordination gaps in such activities.

After completing the necessary reviews, the committee will determine the steps required to recover government dues from frozen bank accounts associated with assets allegedly transferred abroad. It will also submit recommendations to the appropriate authorities regarding the necessary legal and administrative measures.

According to relevant sources, once an asset or bank account is frozen under a court order, various legal and administrative complications may arise in collecting taxes and duties owed to the government from those assets. The new committee will work to identify these complications and find ways to resolve them, while also ensuring effective coordination among the government agencies involved.

Officials believe the government's initiative will create an opportunity to pursue the recovery of state financial dues in a more coordinated manner alongside efforts to recover assets transferred abroad.