The World Bank’s external panel of experts that conducted investigation into the Padma Bridge scam in its final report said it was disappointed at the exclusion of the name of communications minister Syed Abul Hossain from the list of persons under investigation by
the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC).In the report it observed that there were no legal reasons to drop the name of the former communications minister from the list despite his involvement in the graft case.
The panel headed by Luis Moreno – Ocampo, also noted that despite having enough time the Bangladesh government did not take proper steps to address the issue of corruption in the Bridge project.
“The World Bank received clear information about the existence of a conspiracy after the approval and the signing of the loan. In September 2011, and again in April 2012, the World Bank submitted two reports to Bangladeshi authorities urging them to investigate these matters fully and, where justified, prosecute those responsible for corruption. The decision to delay the effectiveness and not to terminate the contract while referring the problems to the Bangladeshi government provided a clear opportunity for the national authorities to find and implement an adequate solution to the situation.
The Bangladeshi government reshuffled its cabinet but did not address the corruption conspiracy” the final report of the panel released on Tuesday night said.
The Panel maintains that there were no legal reasons to exclude the name of the former Minister of Communications from the initial list of persons under investigation.
‘Investigative matters, including the quantum of evidence implicating the former Minister of Communications, were the subject of an extensive, open and frank dialogue between the ACC and the Panel’.
The Panel expressed its views that there was sufficient evidence against four individuals working for the Bangladesh Government to warrant opening an investigation against each of them, the report added.
The report also said, the ACC issued the First Information Report starting the formal investigation phase. In the FIR, the ACC concluded that the evidence raised sufficient suspicion of a criminal conspiracy in relation to the selection of the Construction Supervision Consultant for the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project (PMBP). Seven persons were named in the FIR for having attempted to obtain financial gains for themselves and others by favouring SNC Lavalin and its partners in the tender process. They are the former Secretary and the former Superintendent Engineer of the Bangladesh Bridge Authority, an Executive Engineer of the Roads and Highway Division and four individuals associated with SNC Lavalin.
“The ACC said that the roles of the former Minister of Communications and former State Minister for Foreign Affairs in this “conspiracy would be scrutinized” but these individuals were not formally listed in the FIR as subjects of the launched investigation”.
On January 9, 2013, the Panel sent a letter to the ACC Chairman acknowledging that the issuance of a FIR was a positive first step by the ACC.
“However, the Panel considered that the evidence suggested a criminal conspiracy that included the former Minister of Communications as the most senior official personally involved. The ultimate award of the contract likely required his approval. He met with SNC Lavalin managers at the request of the former Secretary which was likely in furtherance of the negotiations for an illegal payment. His name and the indication of a payment of 4 per cent were subsequently included in a list of people that were to receive compensation for their alleged involvement in the conspiracy. The Panel considered that in order to achieve a complete and fair investigation, the former Minister of Communications should be named in the FIR and placed under investigation. Nonetheless, the Panel took note of the ACC Chairman’s observation that the former Minister will be under rigorous scrutiny during the investigation. The Panel also requested additional information from the ACC” the final report said.
“On January 21, 2013, the ACC provided an answer to the information requested by the Panel. The ACC stated that it has yet to draw its final assessment on the role of the former Minister of Communications in the alleged act of conspiracy, as the case is at the investigation stage. The ACC also informed the Panel that it had conducted a series of investigative measures, including the arrest of two of the public servants allegedly involved in the conspiracy”.
The Bank and the government of Bangladesh have been at odds since October 10, 2011, when the former suspended its $1.2 billion promised funding for the bridge amid allegations of irregularities, which the government rejected as baseless.
After a year-long haggling over the allegations and the necessity to probe them, the Bank announced a three member expert panel on October 5, 2012 to conduct an exhaustive investigation into the alleged irregularities.
The Panel also suggested involvement of more bidders in in awarding such contract in future to prevent corruption and prescribed providing incentives to bidders for disclosing information about corruption in the process.
“The case shows that the other companies involved in the bidding process did not have enough incentives to publicly disclose information in their possession about illegal activities”.
According to the Panel report, the referrals of the Integrity Vice-Presidency of the World Bank to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police triggered an investigation that included the search of the Company’s office and the collection of information related to the Padma Bridge conspiracy.
Moreover, through the efforts of INT, the Company agreed to provide relevant documents to the Integrity Vice- Presidency.
The referral report provided to the ACC on the ninth of November, 2012 included evidence that triggered a criminal investigation in Bangladesh. The ACC’s activities confirmed the existence of a criminal conspiracy related to a World Bank loan, implicating Bangladeshi public officials in the conspiracy and expanding the list of subjects of investigation to include the Canadian company’s managers.
The Panel also said that the confidentiality of the information obtained by the World Bank made it difficult to share it with interested third parties, including national enforcement agencies and other lending institutions.
-With The Independent input
