Business
BB Governor on First Solution’s fraud: Be more cautious in selecting remittance houses
By Staff Reporter
Mon, 2 Jul 2007, 13:30:00

Bangladesh Bank is contemplating raising security deposits of the money exchangers with local banks through which expatriates send hard-earned remittances to the country.

It was stated by Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed while talking to journalists at the Bangladesh Bank Training Academy (BBTA) at Mirpur in the city.

He made the remark after attending the concluding ceremony of six-month Fundamental Training Course-2006 for the newly recruited 100 assistant directors of Bangladesh Bank at the BBTA.

“We’re thinking to raise security deposits of the money exchangers because they deal with huge amount of money remitted by the expatriate Bangladeshis,” he said.

When his attention was drawn to the recent money transfer scam committed by the London-based First Solution Money Transfer, Dr Salehuddin said the Bangladesh Bank did not give any licence to the First Solution Money Transfer. “It’s under the jurisdiction of the UK government.”

However, the Bangladesh Bank Governor said, “We have to be more cautious in selecting remittance houses in future for sending hard-earned foreign currency.”

First Solution Money Transfer, a London-based firm, owned by Fazal Mahmud, former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia’s political secretary Mosaddak Ali Falu’s business partner, has misappropriated remittances worth Tk 123 crore recently.

Dr Salehuddin said the central bank officials yesterday held a meeting with the officials of different banks which have agreements with the First Solution Money Transfer.

“We wanted to ascertain how much money the First Solution Money Transfer has remitted through these banks,” he said.

It may be mentioned that thousands of expatriate Bangladeshis living in the United Kingdom sent thousands of pound sterling to Bangladesh through the Fast Solution Money Transfer, now declared bankrupt with its chairman Fazal Mahmud, who is also the former managing director of Channel S, went into hiding.

The Governor expressed his optimism about giving a considerable solution to this problem.

About the solution envisaged, he said that the central bank would, first, see if any money remained in the banks that are linked with the Fast Solution remittance house. “If we’ve money in the banks, then we’ll collect that from banks.”

In this regard, he disclosed a plan that the central bank would contact the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) of the United Kingdom to break the case.

Replying to another question, the BB governor said they haven’t yet brought any looted money from abroad under the current drive against the suspected high-society corrupt.

“We are trying to communicate; firstly, we have to know how much

money kept in which banks in which countries. The government has to provide us that information,” he said.

In his concluding speech in the training course Dr Salehuddin Ahmed reiterated the need for making the central bank fully independent.

“Every central bank of the world is independent in formulating

policy, and it is established everywhere,” he told his audience. “We will also be accountable to the concerned authority--we are ready to do that. Let the policymaking remain in our own hand… we want to do that.”

The Governor underscored the need for coordination between fiscal policy and monetary policy. “We have to ensure the discipline of the fiscal policy, cost what it may,” he said, adding that the monetary policy is “little bit objective”.

About inflation, he said that it is not possible to keep inflation at zero per cent, rather it is possible to keep it under tolerable position.

“The activities of Bangladesh Bank are not to keep the inflation under control through monetary policy,” he said.

Welcoming the new recruits to the central bank, who have completed their training period successfully, he said there is a big way ahead of them with huge challenges.

He termed the recent trend of banking a little complex and asked the new central bank officials to remain alert and develop their skill in innovative ways.

With BBTA executive director Nazir Ahmed Khan presiding, deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Ziaul Hasan Siddiqui also spoke at the function.

Ziaul Hasan Siddiqui stressed grabbing more knowledge and asked the new bank officials to keep abreast all the time with the affairs around as the world is changing so fast.



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