Govt to form commission soon to probe irregularities
The Bangladesh Bank yesterday froze the bank accounts of all the directors of Destiny Group and its associated organisations for one month.
However, the accounts of Boishakhi TV and Bangla daily Dainik Destiny — two sister concerns of the group — have not been frozen.
The financial intelligence unit of the central bank sent letters to all commercial banks, asking to freeze bank accounts of all directors of Destiny Group and its associated organisations as per the rules of Anti-Money Laundering Act.
The banks were also directed to inform the BB of their actions by Monday.
To investigate possible money laundering by Destiny, the central bank had earlier asked all banks to provide it with information about the accounts of Destiny Group’s 14 directors, including its president and chairman, and all sister concerns of the group.
Destiny Group has 37 sister organisations.
The central bank has recently conducted a preliminary investigation into the activities of Destiny Group and sent a report to the finance ministry.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the government would soon form a commission to investigate the activities of the group.
The commission would be formed after receiving a detailed report on Destiny Group from the commerce ministry, he told reporters at his secretariat office.
Asked about several Destiny Group directors withdrawing money from their bank accounts, the finance minister expressed surprise and said, “Does the Bangladesh Bank know about it?”
“There is no problem. Records will be there, so they could be apprehended,” Muhith added.
Earlier, commerce ministry wrote to the finance ministry recommending formation of a commission to look into the activities of Destiny Group and investigate if there were any irregularities.
The Anti-Corruption Commission and the National Board of Revenue are currently probing the Destiny affairs.
-With The Daily Star input
