Scope of whitening laundered money insults migrant workers: Abdul Mazid

The scope of sending laundered money back to the country by paying a 7% tax is an insult to the expatriate workers, who might face humiliation in society for it, said Dr Muhammad Abdul Mazid, a former chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

"The remittances sent by the expatriate workers are tax-free, but they can fall into legal traps because of the scope of bringing back laundered money," he said at a post-budget press conference organised by the International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) at the Dhaka Reporters Unity in the Segunbagicha area on Monday.

"In his budget speech, the finance minister said those who would bring back the laundered money would not be questioned. This means that it will not be possible to identify who is a migrant worker and who is a money launderer. We want to know what is the problem in asking questions," said Dr Muhammad Abdul Mazid, chairman (finance committee) of IBFB.

"Why should a money launderer be protected? The government has signed agreements with various countries to curb money laundering. Why not take action under that?" he asked, adding, "The government says money launderers will not be told anything now. This is unacceptable."

He also said previously such a scope was given in different countries, but those were not very fruitful in recovering laundered money.

At the press conference, IBFB President Humayun Rashid made various recommendations on the proposed budget.

He said, "The budget speaks of good governance and a strong stance against corruption, but the proposal to whiten the laundered black money is not justified. The time for whitening the black money needs to be specified. After that, there will be an obligation to adopt strict measures to recover the black money."

"The source of the money laundered will not be questioned – such an amnesty would severely damage the balance of ethics in the economy. This can lead to protests from international organisations or parties in bilateral agreements signed for curbing money laundering," he added.

Replying to a question at the press conference, former NBR chairman Dr Muhammad Abdul Mazid said, "Many sectors are shown bigger – considering the allocations there – in the budget. For example, many sections in the social security sector do not go with this sector. The government tries to hide facts in this way."

The former bureaucrat, who was involved in the preparation of previous budgets, said while he worked in NBR, they were asked to show that the education budget was big, but the allocation in this sector was not huge.

At that time, money allocated for buying computers for different ministries or departments was mentioned under the education sector. This was done only to enlarge the education budget, said the former NBR chairman.

IBFB Vice-President MS Siddiqui, its Director Dr Matiur Rahman, a former secretary, and others also spoke at the programme.