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Bangladeshis who gambled in Singapore under scanner

Mahbubur Rahman Khan
The Anti-Corruption Commission has opened an investigation into the wealth of Bangladeshis who played in the casinos of Singapore in the last five years.
The move came as part of an ongoing anticorruption campaign, which saw the rounding up of several people involved in illegal casino business in the country.
Seeking details of the Bangladeshi gamblers, the ACC wrote to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau of Singapore on Wednesday, an official told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.
"An investigation has revealed that a number of people have laundered their ill-gotten money to different countries including Singapore," he said quoting from the letter.
Those who were arrested confessed to smuggling huge amounts of money to Singapore and playing in the casinos there.
Since the launch of the raids in Dhaka's casinos on September 18, politicians, businessmen and government officials, among others, got arrested.
Some of them are Dhaka South Jubo League president Ismail Hossain Samrat, organising secretary Khaled Mahmud Bhuiyan, Krishak League central executive committee member Shafiqul Alam Feroz, Mohammedan Sporting Club director in-charge M Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan, contractor Golam Kibria Shamim, and three councilors of Dhaka city - Habibur Rahman Mizan, Tarequzzaman Rajib, and Mainul Haque Manju.
According to police, six "casinos" in "Motijheel Club Para" area were run and controlled by some top leaders of Jubo League and other associated bodies of Awami League.
Of them, councillor AKM Mominul Haque Sayeed, who is also general secretary of Bangladesh Hockey Federation, ran Arambagh Sporting Club, Dilkusha Sporting Club, and Mohammedan Sporting Club. He now lives in Singapore, the official said.
In the letter, ACC asked for the full list of Bangladeshis who played in casinos in Marina Bay and elsewhere
in Singapore. According to the commission, every foreigner needs to submit his or her passport before entering a casino in Singapore.
ACC has sought information under Article 48 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), of which both Bangladesh and Singapore are parties.
"We've requested Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau to take necessary measures for collecting the passport numbers of the Bangladesh citizens who played in casinos in Singapore for the last five years," the official said, citing from the letter.
Usually it takes a week to get information from partner countries, he added.
On Wednesday, ACC also sought bank statements and transaction history of the accounts that were recently seized by Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BF1U) against the backdrop of the ongoing anti-corruption drive.
The commission has so far filed nine cases against former ruling party leaders, businessmen and their relatives. In the cases, it used BFIU's information.
There is speculation that BFIU has seized bank accounts of politicians whose names have come to the fore for their controversial role. Besides, the accounts of some businessmen and government officials were also confiscated.