The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is going to file cases against corrupts ex-ministers, high officials and MPs as the preliminary investigations against them are about to be completed.
The Commission is extending its anti-graft net across the country to bring corrupt politicians, government officials and individuals, according to ACC sources.
After the fall of the Awami League government due to widespread protests by students and the general public, the work of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has suddenly increased. Major corruption cases that had been dormant for years are now being reactivated. The Commission is approving cases after reviewing the investigation reports, according to the ACC sources.
In the last 16 years, cases against major corruptions have not been investigated; if the government did not want it, even the investigation could not start. In some cases, even after the investigation, clear evidence of corruption was found, but the complaints were forced to be settled. Especially in the intelligence unit of the ACC, hundreds of sensational corruption files are buried.
According to officials, due to the displeasure of the government, media trials have sometimes been conducted against certain individuals in the name of investigation. When the media attention ceased, the work of the ACC also stopped. Party governments have never allowed the ACC to function independently.
According to ACC sources, many of those under investigation have received 'clean chits' or immunity by settling corruption charges. Several influential people have been acquitted two or three times. But after the regime change, the corruption files are again active against many of them.
If the ACC is not reorganised, ACC officials believe these activities will not see the end. Most of the major corruption allegations have been settled due to political and unethical influence.
ACC sources said that the Commission has made plans to bring back money smuggled abroad through legal and illegal processes.
In this case, the list of ministers, MPs, bureaucrats, and government officials who have been 'exonerated' by settling complaints is also being taken.
ACC Secretary Khorsheda Yasmin said, "It is not accurate to say that the speed of work has increased suddenly. Investigation of the ACC cases is an ongoing process. It's routine work. The ACC was never 'inactive.'"
It is learned that in the last few days, the Commission has allowed cases after considering the recommendations of several investigation reports that had been pending for years.
As a part of the fresh ACC move, the commission has prepared a primary list of around 200 graft suspects to bring them under ACC net for inquiry, a director general of the Commission told a a newspaper recently.
Apart from starting new inquiries, the Commission also took initiatives to dispose of pending inquiries and cases, a task that it could not complete due to political pressures, Commission officials said.
After the fall of Awami League government, the ACC launched inquiries against more than 63 individuals in the past four working days for graft allegations.
These graft suspects include 20 former ministers, 30 former lawmakers, two former bureaucrats, two top police officials, and two former officials of the Prime Minister's Office.
Executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Dr ftekharuzzaman said, "It is necessary to reorganise the ACC to make it a virtually independent institution. Allegations of corruption against these individuals are not new. Decision-making powers in the management of the ACC have been in their hands for several years. So why was the decision to investigate their corruption not made earlier?"
"From this, it can be understood that the ACC has worked under the authority of the government. At times, the organisation has been overzealous against some individuals disfavoured by the government".
