CID wants access to cenbank’s transactions as a move for preventing money laundering 

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) wants access to the Bangladesh Bank’s transactions in a bid to prevent money laundering.

“The Bangladesh Bank monitors the issue of unusual transactions through bank accounts. If a CID official has access to monitoring the transactions, action can be taken as soon as suspicious activities are seen. In the existing system, it becomes time consuming,” CID Chief Additional Inspector General of Police Mohammad Ali Mia said today (30 June) while launching a report on online gambling.

At the event on the report titled “Challenges of controlling illegal money transfer through mobile apps: A study on online gambling” at the CID headquarters, he said, “We are trying to gain access to the central bank’s dashboard. We hope the Bangladesh Bank will agree. Otherwise, action against financial offenders will not be possible.”

The  CID chief further said mobile banking operators should be brought under the law for any suspicious transactions or crimes related to e-money transactions. 

Claiming that Mobile Financial Service institutions usually don’t investigate the source and purpose of an agent’s money, the CID chief said, “We are looking into whether money from  Bangladesh is being circulated in the country by blocking foreign remittances.”

Regarding the research, he said, “In 2022, we conducted several money laundering operations related to online gambling. Due to legal complications, action could not be taken against those involved. At that time, we took the initiative for the research. Publishing research reports will be helpful in investigating online gambling, misuse of MFS, and money laundering cases.”