Korea: ACC sits on $7.5m money laundering evidence

A Korean citizen claims that an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) official has stopped proceedings of filing a case regarding laundering of about $7.5 million although National Coordination Committee (NCC) to combat serious crime and corruption has evidence.

Ok-Kyung Oh in a press conference at Jatiya Press Club yesterday said a taskforce team this year found evidence of laundering the amount to South Korea by her former husband Bo- Sun Park, chairman of TaeHung Packaging (BD) Ltd, and forwarded the matter to ACC for further action.

She alleged ACC did not make any probe into the matter for mysterious reasons except changing the enquiry officer three times.

Ok-Kyung Oh, who claims to have been removed from the post of managing director of the same company illegally in 2004, alleges that ACC Commissioner Abul Hasan Manzur Mannan is holding back the file regarding filing of the case.

"If an ACC commissioner is holding back a file like this, then who's going to fight against corruption?" Ok-Kyung Oh asks.

"If ACC cannot file this case even after having such documents, the commission cannot file any case regarding corruption," she adds.

Contacted, Mannan told The Daily Star, "The allegation is not true. May be she has misunderstood me. She might have said that Customs Bond Commissionerate did not scrutinise her allegations earlier."

On delay in ACC action regarding the matter, he said, "The officer entrusted with enquiry earlier collected all the information but did not take those into cognisance, especially those technically important for this case."

"I don't know why the officer did that," he said, adding, "As we have understood all aspects of the matter by now, it would be disposed of soon."

Mentioning the recent taskforce report regarding the matter, Ok-Kyung Oh told journalists $7.5 million amounts to Tk 52.35 crore was laundered from 2000 till 2007 through over invoice.

She also complains that two former committees formed by the Bangladesh Bank and Customs Bond Commissionerate could not conduct impartial investigation and were influenced by former communications minister Nazmul Huda and his wife Sigma Huda during tenure of the four-party alliance government.

Source: The Daily Star