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DHAKA : Bangladesh authorities waging a corruption crackdown have asked banks to freeze the accounts of 53 prominent politicians and business tycoons suspected of massive tax evasion.
"The National Board of Revenue has ordered all the banks to freeze the accounts of 53 persons against whom there are allegations of corruption," said S.M. Aminur Rahman, managing director of the state-owned Sonali Bank.
"We have already asked our branches to freeze the transactions of these people until further notice," he added.
The 53 included 50 politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen the Anti-Corruption Commission named earlier this month in a list of graft suspects.
The new military-backed interim government has already detained 37 high-profile figures with links to both the main political parties on corruption charges.
The government's anti-graft drive is aimed at cleaning up politics and holding credible elections after polls scheduled for January 22 were cancelled amid rigging allegations.
President Iajuddin Ahmed scrapped the polls amid escalating violence on January 11. He also imposed emergency rule and stepped down as head of the previous caretaker government.
The main opposition Awami League had accused the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of seeking to tilt the ballot in its favour. It accused the BNP of appointing biased election officials who drew up a voter list with 14 million fake names.
On Wednesday, the authorities began to seize assets from 15 people on the Anti-Corruption Commission's list of 50. The 15 had failed to meet a deadline to submit details of their financial affairs. Officials say hundreds more are under investigation.
- AFP/ms
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