BB warns expatriates against Hundi, suspends 480 MFS agents’ accounts

Bangladesh Bank has urged expatriates to send money through the banks, reminding them of legal consequences for using illegal means to conduct cross-border transactions.

It also suspended 480 Mobile Financial Service or MFS agents’ accounts recently for their involvement in the transfer of remittances through so-called Hundi, an unauthorised channel.

 “Please contribute to nation-building efforts and keep your loved ones safe and free from risks,” the central bank said in a statement on Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com.

It said sending money through Hundi is a punishable offence and it causes loss to the country.

The statement also said Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit was taking legal action against everyone involved with illegal channels of remitting funds.

Inward remittances hit record high during the coronavirus pandemic despite fears of expatriate Bangladeshis losing their income.

Experts believe the illegal channels were closed during the pandemic, forcing the expatriates to use the banking channel, which led to the rise in remittances.

Remittances started to decrease afterwards. Besides the fall in remittances, a rise in import costs and slump in exports have worsened the country’s dollar shortage, prompting the government and the central bank to take a series of measures to improve the situation.

To tackle a worsening global economic crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war amid the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, Bangladesh needs to prioritise ways to increase remittances, along with food production, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet agreed on Monday.

Bangladesh Bank has asked banks to stop taking fees from expatriate Bangladeshis for sending money, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said.

MFS AGENTS’ ACCOUNTS SUSPENDED

Of the 480 recently suspended accounts of MFS agents, 200 were suspended on Wednesday. The Bangladesh Bank said they will not be able to encash remittances until they meet certain conditions.

Now the number of such suspended agents stands near 5,000.

“Bangladesh Bank and BFIU always monitor suspicious transactions to prevent Hundi. The recent steps were taken as part of this routine work,” said central bank spokesman Abul Kalam Azad.

The suspended agents included those of bKash and Nagad.

Lutfuzzaman Sarkar, a spokesman for Nagad, said they were yet to receive any information or instructions from the central bank over the matter.

bKash spokesman Shamsuddin Haider Dalim also declined to comment, saying they may speak if the central bank informs them about the matter on Thursday.

According to latest data, MFS services in Bangladesh had more than 185.2 million accounts at the end of September.

In September, police said at least 5,000 agents from several mobile financial services, including bKash, Nagad, Rocket and Upay are involved with the illicit money transfer, depriving Bangladesh of about $7.8 billion in inward remittances a year due to the crime.

The Criminal Investigation Department of police opened an investigation into the business after instability hit the price of the US dollar in Bangladesh. The police unit arrested 16 people in three separate raids in Dhaka and Chattogram for their alleged ties to money laundering behind the mobile financial services.