White-Collar Crime and its Legal Implications in Bangladesh

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS

Definition of White-collar crime

In general, crime refers to any individual who violates the rule of law. On the other side, a crime is perpetrated by a person or a group of persons from the elite class; this sort of crime is called white-collar crime (SUTHERLAND 1949). Edwin Hardin Sutherland, a criminologist and sociologist, coined the term “white-collar crime” in 1939. He defined it as a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social position while performing their job. Southerland includes crimes committed by corporations and other legal bodies in his definition.  The principal characteristic differentiating white-collar crimes from traditional crimes is the way the former are committed. The typical crime entails a visible, painful, and harmful invasion of the victim’s private interests, conducted directly, face-to-face, in a known, hand-to-hand manner, and usually over a short period. Furthermore, criminal intent is usually present in significant amounts, and the standard criminal conduct appears to be the improper purpose that the perpetrator seeks to achieve. Finally, criminal conduct is usually associated with a variety of potential societal risks. White-collar offenses are usually deliberate, disguised, discreet, indirect, sophisticated, nonviolent, and deceitful. Subterfuge, deceit, and embezzlement are more likely methods of operation than the standard crime behavior such as experienced in violent assault, armed robbery, burglary, prostitution, or trespassing (Brodowicz 2024).

Types of white-collar crime

White-collar crimes are as hard to detect as they are simple to conduct. The standard detection systems used by police and government cannot address the growing number of crimes(Shajib 2017). There are nine types of white-collar offenses that people can commit:

Securities-related crimes

Crime in the securities industry is very prevalent and frequent. Four types of violations are common: churning, insider trading, stock manipulation, and boiler-room operations.

Churning is the practice of trading a client’s stock frequently in order to earn high commissions. A broker earns a commission on each trade, thus regardless of whether the stock traded increases or drops in value, the broker profits.

Insider trading is the use of substantial, nonpublic financial information to gain an unfair advantage while trading stocks. A person with access to private corporate information may make enormous profits by buying or selling stock based on that information.

Stock manipulation is frequent in the over-the-counter market, where some stocks trade at extremely low prices, although it is not confined to these stocks. Brokers with a stake in a particular security may make misleading or even deceptive remarks to clients to create the impression that the stock’s price is about to climb, resulting in artificial demand for it.

Boiler rooms are operations managed by stock manipulators that use deception and misleading sales practices to trick naïve and uninformed investors into purchasing stocks in obscure and frequently underfunded firms.

Bankruptcy Fraud

The filing of a bankruptcy petition initiates proceedings in which an insolvent person or corporation’s property and financial liabilities are liquidated. Bankruptcy proceedings are governed by laws intended to safeguard insolvent debtors. Fraudulent people have invented several ways to perpetrate bankruptcy fraud, which is any swindle that takes advantage of loopholes in bankruptcy regulations. The most popular are the “similar-name” fraud, the “old-company” scam, the “new-company” trick, and the “successful-business” hoax.

Fraud against the Government

Governments at all levels are victims of a wide range of fraud, including bid collusion, payoffs and kickbacks to government officials, expenditures by a government official that exceed the budget, the filing of false claims, the hiring of friends or associates who were previously employed by the government, and offers of inducements to government officials.

Consumer Fraud

Consumer fraud is the act of convincing a consumer to give up money by deception or a misrepresentation of a material fact. Consumer frauds frequently appear as confidence games and can take one of the following forms:

Deceptive advertising: A statement that a product is on sale for a short time is frequently used to entice customers into a store. When a customer enters a shop, he or she is informed that the product has sold out and is given an alternative, which is frequently of poorer quality or costs much more.

Land fraud: Consumers are easy targets for land fraud scammers. The argument here is that a certain piece of vacation or retirement property is a wise investment, that numerous upgrades will be made to the property, and that many facilities will be made available in the surrounding region. Consumers frequently purchase land that is either useless or overvalued.

Business opportunity fraud: The goal of business opportunity fraud is to induce a consumer to invest money in a business concern by misrepresenting its true value. Work-at-home scams are frequent, in which victims are told they can make a lot of money by addressing letters at home or performing other easy tasks. Consumers lose significant amounts of money participating in such ventures.

Computer Crimes

Computer crime has expanded dramatically since the mid-1960s, but its real scope is unknown. Aside from the difficulties of defining computer criminality and the lack of clearly applicable legislation in many jurisdictions, computer crime, like other types of economic crime, is difficult to detect. In terms of motive or harm, computer crimes are highly variable. Computer crimes can be classified into five categories: (Freda Adler 2012)

Computer fraud is defined as the fabrication of stored data or deception in legitimate transactions by the manipulation of data or programming, as well as the unauthorized acquisition of data or programs for financial advantage by the perpetrator or a third party.

Computer espionage is defined as illicit computer access that generates information for exploitation from government or private databases.

Computer sabotage is the alteration, destruction, or scrambling of data or software by unauthorized access to data banks.

Computer hacking is the act of gaining unauthorized access to data banks for reasons other than financial gain or espionage, which are not always detrimental.

Theft of computer time, software, and hardware includes the unlawful use of computer time and software services, the copying of software programs, and the theft of computer equipment.

Insurance Fraud

Insurance fraud can take numerous forms, including policyholders defrauding insurers, insurers scamming the public, management defrauding the public, and third-party defrauding insurance companies. Policyholder fraud is frequently done by submitting fake claims for life, fire, marine, or casualty insurance. An insurance company employee may be complicit in the scam and assist with the claim preparation. Fraud might be simple (e.g., a bogus death claim) or sophisticated (including multiple policies). A different sort of insurance fraud is committed when a small group of persons establishes a “shell” insurance company with no real assets. Policies are sold with no intention of paying real claims. When big claims are made to shell insurance businesses, the companies dissolve, leaving a trail of injured victims. Another type of insurance fraud is when mid- and upper-level managers steal monies from an insurance company and debit them as payments to real or fake policyholders.

Tax Evasion

Tax evasion involves illegally avoiding taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Falsifying a taxpayer’s financial information to lower tax liability. This includes evading taxes, underreporting income, exaggerating deductions, bribery in corrupt countries, and concealing funds.

Bribery, Corruption, and Political Fraud

Judges who settle traffic fines in exchange for political favors, municipal employees who speculate with city funds, and businesspeople who bribe local politicians for favorable treatment are all examples of corruption in our municipal, state, and national governments. The purposes of such offenses vary: favors, special privileges, services, and business. The actors include both corporate and government authorities; they could be from the police or the courts.

Bribery and other forms of corruption are deeply embedded in the political machinery of municipal and state administrations. Examples abound: mayors of large cities use bribery to get favors, manufacturers pay off political people in exchange for favors, and municipal authorities demand kickbacks from contractors.

Corruption is also prevalent in the private sector. One company pays another to utilize a product or service; a company pays its own board of directors or executives to provide special favors; and two or more enterprises, presumably competitors, covertly agree to charge the same pricing for their products or services.

Insider-Related Fraud

Insider fraud is the use and abuse of one’s position for monetary gain or privilege. This category of crimes includes embezzlement, employee theft, and the sale of private information.

Embezzlement is the conversion of property or money that has been entrusted to one or for which one is responsible as a fiduciary. An embezzlement is a type of theft that can range from an employee taking a modest amount of money to a complex scheme involving the transfer of millions of dollars from a company’s accounts to the perpetrator’s accounts.

Employee-related thefts of firm property account for a major portion of industry losses. Not only are goods and services seized, but time and money are also in danger. False payrolls, bogus overtime charges, fraudulent claims for business-related travel, and other such practices are frequent.

Finally, in a free market where competition is valued, firms must avoid selling confidential information and trade secrets. Employee loyalty is the most effective insurance coverage. Abuse of sensitive information is conceivable when loyalty is lacking or undermined. (Freda Adler 2012)

Historical context of White-collar crime

White-collar crime existed long before the word was coined. In ancient times, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (1710-1670 B.C.) imposed severe penalties on a builder or contractor who treated another man’s child as an adopted son, a peddler who used a false measure, builders’ neglect and malpractice, and merchants who forced grain samples on another. In his satires, the Roman poet Juvenal (60-127 A.D.) protested about the sale of contaminated soaps, restaurant owners’ teasing practices, and the doctor whose wealthy patient has become ill who is always at his service with his fingertip in his throat. Title-related crimes were also committed in ancient Egypt. In the late fifteenth century, Leonardo Da Vinci designed the first model of a tank under the patronage of the Duke of Milan, and he was implicated in fraud to gain employment with the duke. (Brodowicz 2024)

Prof. Albert Morris draws attention to a paper titled ‘Criminal Capitalists’ delivered by Edwin C. Hill at the International Congress on the Prevention and Repression of Crime in London in 1872. In this piece of writing, the author acknowledged the “growing significance of crime as an organized business requiring the cooperation of real estate owners, investors, manufacturers, and other ‘honest’ people” (Siddique 2005). Prof. Morris emphasized the importance of shifting the focus on crime. He claimed that anti-social behaviors undertaken by people of high positions in the course of their vocation should be classified as a crime and punished (Paranjape 2009). E.H. Sutherland’s pioneering work emphasized the distinction between “Blue Collar Crime” and “White Collar Crime,” which refers to ‘upper world’ crimes committed by members of upper socio-economic groups while violating trust. In 1949, he wrote “White-collar Crime,” a remarkable book about the subject. His views pushed for a fresh approach to crime, emphasizing the perpetrators rather than the crime itself. White-collar crime was not commonly recognized until after the Industrial Revolution in Western countries.

Many anti-white-collar crime sentiments increased in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a result of a group of journalists known as muckrakers. These writers went beyond traditional news reporting to expose corruption in both the public and private sectors. They wrote about stock fraud, insurance fraud, and the deceptive activities of monopolistic firms that had slipped through the Sherman Act’s gaps. The muckrakers’ exposés infuriated the public and prompted some reform. By 1914, Congress attempted to reinforce and deepen the sentiment of the Sherman Act, which was utilized against labor unions, through the Clayton Antitrust Act. This statute went beyond the Sherman statute and made certain monopolistic practices illegal. Nonetheless, in the decades that followed, white-collar crime persisted — or, more accurately, went unpunished. This scenario gave birth to the modern concept of white-collar crime.

Causes of White-Collar Crime

There are numerous reasons for committing this act. These are given below:

In general, white-collar criminals are motivated by two factors:

1. Economic difficulty and 2. greed

Dr. Yusof Nook and Joseph Eby Ruin identified three key reasons for white-collar crime.

1. Opportunities to commit crime,
2. Situational pressures on the individuals,

• Issues about integrity.

1. Opportunities: Opportunities include expanding individual understanding of a company’s operations, ascending to a position of trust, and being the sole person who understands a specific technique, such as correcting or updating a computer program. An organization may also give opportunity for its employees to perpetrate fraud by having a complex structure, allowing related party transactions, condoning inadequate internal control system policies and processes, or regularly changing its legal or accounting firms.
2. Situational pressures: Situational pressures are the direct pressures that a person faces in his surroundings, and the most overpowering of these pressures are exceptionally huge personal debts or financial losses. Official directions from organizational leaders can also create situational pressures. Situational pressures, such as the prospect of losing a company license, being removed from the stock exchange, losing employment, or facing a cash deficit, may inspire people to commit fraud for their corporation rather than against it.

• Integrity: Person integrity refers to an individual’s personal code of ethics. While this part looks to be a simple assessment of a person’s honesty, the issue is actually more difficult than it appears. A person should understand the fundamental definitions of honest and dishonest behavior, as well as the standards to follow when establishing a general attribute of honesty. Furthermore, a person must be consistently reinforced for honest behavior to internalize a standard of honesty and be intrinsically rewarded for honest actions.

White-collar crime in numerous sectors of Bangladesh

In Bangladesh white collar crimes, in contrast to blue collar crimes, are on the rise. Corruption and criminalization of politics have become prevalent in this area. Bangladesh has been named the world’s most corrupt country for the past five years by Transparency International, a non-governmental organization located in Germany. Bangladesh has a large number of white-collar crime industries. These are provided below:

Political Sector

Politicians are responsible for directing the country toward a brighter future and preparing for the challenges of the twenty-first century. They should encourage good governance and growth in Bangladesh. They are accused of engaging in corrupt practices rather than doing their duties. Politicians are consistently ranked as the most corrupt in numerous countries, including Bangladesh.

In 2005, 8.1 percent of the people involved in corruption were elected officials. Among them were 43.5 percent UP (Union Parishad) chairmen, 27.1 percent UP members, 11.8 percent municipality chairmen, 8.2 percent members of parliament, 4.7 percent ministers, 1.8% ward commissioners, and 1.2% city mayors. (Corruption Database 2005 n.d.) Chittagong City Corporation’s Ward Commissioner fraudulently occupied government land worth taka30 crores using phony paperwork. Ward Commissioner Mohammad Hossain Hiron oversees several terrorist groups. He used his position in government to create fraudulent documents. Furthermore, he has taken over territory left by Biharis and ethnic communities. (The Daily Dinkal, December 6, 2002.)

Government Officials

Corruption, bribery, and abuse of power are leading causes of white-collar crime among government officials in Bangladesh. In a 2002 survey, Transparency International named Bangladesh’s police force as the most corrupt of all departments. Lower judiciary ranked second, public health third, education fourth, and electricity fifth. In 2005, 64.1 percent of those involved in corruption were government officials and employees. Absolute and arbitrary powers, a lack of accountability, and a weak administrative framework are the root reasons for high levels of corruption among public officials.  In 38.1 percent of corruption cases, no action was done; in 18.1 percent of cases, administrative action was taken; in 19.1 percent of cases, the event of corruption was reported to the authorities; and in 16.3 percent of cases, it was unclear whether any action was taken. Transparency International discovered that corruption exists in practically all government sectors after reading newspaper stories. The most corrupt areas included education, police, health and family welfare, and local government. In the education sector, the majority of corruption occurred in high schools (33.55%) and colleges (15.31%). Thana police (77.26%) and traffic officers (11.37%) were the most corrupt in the department. Bribery (31.76%), extortion (33.3%), and misuse of power (25.88%) were the most common forms of corruption. Corruption was reported in the local government sector by Union Parishad (32.67%), Bureau of Local Government Engineering (16.73%), DC office (5.58%), Municipality (9.56%), and UNO office (11.16%).

Judiciary

Judicial systems serve as the foundation of a nation, upholding the rule of law and sustaining order. This brings innocent people to justice. But this is not the case.
The low salaries of Bangladeshi judges make it difficult for talented individuals to pursue careers in the judiciary. Judges are motivated to make a better life for themselves and, hence rarely accept bribes to make decisions. Occasionally, they faced pressure from higher authorities (Uddin 2024). The Supreme Court’s assessment shows that 41,96,603 cases are pending in Bangladesh’s courts as of December 31, 2023, with 15,71,617 cases filed and 14,71,402 cases resolved. Until that day, 19,928 cases were pending in the Appellate Division, 5,16,674 in the High Court Division, and 36,50,001 in the lower courts. (Justice Audit Bangladesh 2018). Judges were punished for their involvement in corruption, with 4 forced retirements and 4 recommended for dismissal. Permission was sought from the High Court Division to file departmental charges against 7 judges. The judges included two District and Session judges, seven Joint District Judges, and two Senior Assistant Judges (The Daily Sangbad, December 2004.)

Medical Sectors

Medical professionals frequently commit white-collar crimes such as issuing false medical certificates, assisting with illegal abortions, providing expert advice to criminals, and selling sample drugs to patients or chemists. Patients in government hospitals often do not receive the necessary medication. Some hospital personnel sold drugs to nearby pharmacies at a reduced price. Lac Taka’s medicine from Dhaka Medical College Hospital is trafficked and sold. Doctors have been accused of engaging in money-making malpractices, including delaying therapy, issuing bogus medical certifications, facilitating illegal abortions, providing simulated expert opinions, and directing patients to diagnostic facilities for commission. Medical officers construct inflated annual budgets for government hospitals, resulting in a 100 crore taka loss to the national purse. The High Court Division recently reported widespread wrongdoing in the healthcare business. The court acknowledged that collaboration between pharmaceutical companies benefits doctors. The issues are thoroughly recognized and agreed upon. Corruption in procurement, hospital inefficiency, and doctors’ reluctance to practice in rural areas are prevalent issues (A corruption crackdown in the health sector is a need 2023 ).

Engineering Sectors

 Engineers may conduct corruption by tricking contractors and facilitating construction projects such as roads, bridges, and culverts. The Chief Engineer has complete influence over recruitment, promotion, posting and transfer, project director selection, and procurement, which can be abused. Abuse of tender for LGED’s road development project has become a common occurrence. The government party’s cadres forcefully take the tender before opening the box. They obtain building works through unethical behavior with authorities, specifically engineers. Project planning inconsistencies, lengthy implementation and proposal amendments, delayed feedback and lack of cooperation, and improper cost calculations are examples of engineering department crimes. (Das 2023)

Legal profession

The legal profession is currently not regarded with much respect in Bangladesh. This is evidently due to two factors. The primary causes of the decline of the legal profession, which was once thought to be among the finest occupations, are the declining standards of legal education and the unethical tactics used by its members to obtain clients. The Bar Council administers the enrolment exam, which has been criticized for poor management. Using professional witnesses, creating false evidence, and protracted court processes are examples of common unethical behavior. They conceal and release political goons under the guise of interpreting the law.

Educational Institutions

Research indicates that corruption is most prevalent in student selection, scholarship funding, instructor appointments, and associated procedures. Although elementary education is free, some schools collect fees for admission, sports, and promotions. Faculty from public colleges and universities frequently miss lectures to work at private universities for monetary rewards. The leak of the secondary-level assistant teacher recruitment exam question paper highlights the issue of educational corruption. A powerful syndicate leaked government recruitment exam papers. Bangladesh’s education corruption primarily involves admissions and stipend administration, teacher nepotism, and procurement fraud. Less obvious examples include sexual exploitation in school, teacher absenteeism, and teachers exploiting private tutoring services (Md. Rabiul Islam 2019).

Legal Framework of white-collar crime in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has established several laws to prevent and treat white-collar crimes. These laws address several issues, including financial malfeasance, corruption, corporate governance, and cybercrime. Preventing white-collar crime requires collaboration among law enforcement, regulatory institutions, and the private sector, as well as public awareness. Here are some key legislation aimed at preventing white-collar crime:

Accession to the UN Convention against Corruption

In February 2007, the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which was an important and symbolic step. It proved the Bangladesh government’s commitment to executing reforms in a timely and efficient manner in order to meet international standards, promote good governance, and combat corruption.

Constitutional provisions

Although the Bangladeshi Constitution does not specifically address white-collar crime, it does offer a framework and concepts that can be applied to the development of policies, institutions, and procedures that can stop it. These constitutional safeguards have been reinforced by later laws, regulations, and enforcement actions. The government must fight white-collar crime and promote accountability, transparency, and good governance. Several essential provisions are given below:

• Rule of Law (Article 7): Article 7 of the Constitution outlines state policy principles such as democracy, socialism, secularism, and the rule of law. The rule of law keeps everyone accountable, even white-collar crooks.
• Protection of Fundamental Rights (Part III): Part III of the Constitution guarantees essential rights such as equality before the law (Article 27) and legal protection (Article 31). These rights ban governmental and individual arbitrary behavior, hence preventing power abuses and white-collar crime.
• Separation of Powers (Articles 22, 109, 116): The executive, legislative, and judicial branches are separated by constitutional articles 22, 109, and 116. This separation fosters accountability and reduces white-collar crime by preventing government power concentration.
• Directive Principles of State Policy (Part II): Part II of the Constitution establishes state policy instructions for economic and social fairness, public health, and public welfare. These ideas influence legislative and executive actions, which have an indirect impact on white-collar crime prevention and economic integrity measures.

The Penal Code, 1860

The Penal Code of 1860 addresses offenses such as fraud, forgery, deception, criminal breach of trust, and corruption. These rules play a critical role in keeping those responsible for financial and corporate misconduct accountable.

• Bribery: When money, commodities, services, knowledge, or anything else of value is delivered to influence the recipient’s behavior, opinions, or judgments, Someone may face bribery charges whether or not one offers or accepts the bribe. Section 171-E of the Penal Code of 1860 provided that the punishment might be imprisonment for up to one year, a fine, or both.
• Counterfeiting of Bangladeshi coin: As per Section 232 of the Penal Code of 1860, “Whoever counterfeits, or knowingly performs any part of the process of counterfeiting Bangladesh coin, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with [imprisonment] of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
• Extortion: According to Section 384 of the Penal Code of 1860, Whoever commits extortion shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term that may extend to three years, a fine, or both.
• Cheating: Section 417 laid down that, whoever cheats should be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term, which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
• Bank Fraud: To participate in an act or pattern of action with the intent to defraud a bank of funds. According to Section 462-B of the Penal Code, 1860 punishment might amount to two years, or fine, or both.
• Forgery: Section 465 of the Penal Code of 1860 lays down that, “Whoever makes any false document or part of a document, with intent to cause damage or injury, to the public or to any person, or to support any claim or title, or to cause any person to part with property, or to enter into any express or implied contract, or with intend to commit fraud or that fraud may be committed, commits forgery.

Anti-Corruption Commission

The Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, came into force on May 9, 2004 (SRO No. 126- Law/2004, issued in the official Gazette), bringing about significant changes in Bangladesh’s anti-corruption regime. An impartial commission has been established to effectively discover, investigate, and resolve corruption issues in court. The Anti-Corruption Act of 1957 has been repealed, and the Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) has been dismantled. The government has now vested power in the Anti-Corruption Commission. The Anti-Corruption Commission released the Anti-Corruption Commission Rules, 2007 on March 29, 2007, in an official gazette. The Emergency Powers Ordinance, 2007, along with the Emergency Power Rules, 2007, aim to expedite the investigation and trial of specific cases, including corruption. Under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act of 2004, the Anti-Corruption Commission replaced the government for investigations, sanctions, appeals, revisions, and withdrawals from prosecution.

The Money Laundering Prevention Act of 2012

The act is intended to combat conduct such as money laundering and financing for terrorist organizations. Financial institutions are required to implement anti-money laundering (AML) measures, such as customer due diligence and reporting suspicious transactions.

The Companies Act of 1994

 It governs the formation, operation, and dissolution of businesses and defines rules for corporate governance. Businesses must follow established corporate governance principles, disclose financial information in an open manner, and retain accurate financial transaction records.

The Income Tax Act, 2023

This Act addresses tax evasion, avoidance, fraud, and malpractice, akin to white-collar crime.

Consumer Protection Laws

The Consumer Rights Protection Act of 2009 protects customers from fraudulent actions, unfair trade practices, and misleading advertising. Promotes fair competition and customer welfare in markets.

The Securities and Exchange Ordinance,1969

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is authorized to supervise and regulate securities transactions. Enforces regulations to ensure fair and open trading in the stock market.

Current situation of white-collar crime in Bangladesh

According to the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), 24 major loan scams have embezzled over 92,000 crore takas since 2008. According to the most recent World Bank and central bank data for 2023, Bangladesh ranks second among South Asian countries in terms of loan default. The rate was approximately 10.11% of total loans. According to the Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA), over 87% of the country’s wealthiest and upper-middle-class people avoid paying taxes. Here are several horrible situations and the predominance of statistics reports. Transparency International Bangladesh found that around 3.6 billion USD is unlawfully moved out of Bangladesh each year. According to GFI figures, an average of 7.53 billion USD, or Taka 640 billion, is laundered from the country each year. Now consider how these are undermining economic stability and increasing class exploitation for the country.

Recently The people have ousted the rule of Sheikh Hasina. Sheikh Hasina’s government has been particularly tolerant of corruption since it took power in 2009. Hasina’s government continued to plunder funds from the country’s banking industry. At least Tk 5.5 lakh crore of the total Tk 18 lakh crore loans acquired from the banking sector went into default, with the majority of this money being stolen out of the country. (According to a recent Business Standard report, default loans total more than 7 lakh crore). (Islam 2024)

For the last 15 years, the Bangladesh government has undertaken to implement several mega projects. Noticeably, most of the projects have been implemented through foreign funding as a debt. Until December 2023, external debt has reached more than 100 billion USD for Bangladesh, whereas the current reserve was about 18.4 billion USD last May. Needless to say, economically we’re in a vulnerable condition and the concurrent inflation in the market is its outcome. On one side the poor classes are the sufferers & some people from the elite class are convicted & involved in tax evasion, money laundering, and embezzlement on another side which creates economic & social unrest simultaneously. (Tajwar 2024)

Noticeable Cases of white-collar crime in Bangladesh

The conspiracy of corruption at Padma Bridge

Corruption and conspiracy have been a part of the Padma Bridge negotiations since the start. According to the World Bank, “reliable evidence verified by a range of
Several sources suggest a high-level conspiracy of corruption involving the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project involving private citizens, SNC-Lavalin executives, and Bangladeshi government officials. The World Bank declined to approve the proposed loan for bridge construction due to corruption. Under these conditions, the World Bank placed restrictions on the government’s ability to continue loan negotiations. Syed Abul Hossain, the minister of communications, resigned by one of these requirements after being discovered to have engaged in corruption.

Match Fixing Allegations Of Ex-captain (Bangladesh cricket team) Mohammad Ashraful

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) had its first brush with scandal in 2012, before the season even started. Mashrafe Mortaza, one of Bangladesh’s top fast bowlers and captain of the Dhaka Gladiators, informed team management that BPL matches could be manipulated utilizing a probable spot-fixing strategy employed by a fellow cricketer. According to Gladiators media manager Minhaz Uddin Khan, this information was communicated to the BPL. Furthermore, an ICC ACSU officer was already in Dhaka investigating the incident.

Later, in BPL 2013, fresh charges of match manipulation surfaced. The supposed match took place on February 2 between the Dhaka Gladiators and the Chittagong Kings. The 28-year-old Ashraful was allegedly given approximately one million taka (US$12,800) to lose the match. However, according to local media, the check he got was returned due to inadequate cash. He was also accused of manipulating another match ten days later against the Barisal Burners, which his team lost by seven wickets. Later, he admitted to match-fixing in the Sri Lanka Premier League. Mohammad Ashraful, an enigma in Bangladesh cricket, went from campaign to antagonist overnight. The teenage sensation, who became the youngest to make a debut Test century, was once regarded as the brightest light in cricket’s constellation, but he suffered a humiliating fall when he was found guilty of match rigging. As a result, he was banned from playing international cricket for eight years.

Sonali Bank Hallmark scam

Several Sonali Bank personnel were implicated in financing Tk 3,547 crore to little-known businesses. The Anti-Corruption Commission is probing the illicit lending of Tk 3,547 crore by a state-run bank to the Hallmark Group and five other companies, as well as those implicated in the scheme. Bangladesh Bank requested that the ACC examine loan breaches at Sonali Bank’s Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch from 2010 to May of this year. Recently, a loan fraud involving Tk.3,547 crore in a Sonali Bank branch sparked uproar. Hallmark, a small corporation, stole Tk. 2,500 crore. This is uncommon in banking history because the borrower is not a well-known or established corporation. The company received a large sum of money from Sonali Bank’s Ruposhi Bangla branch in an improper manner, which was then exploited. This is concerning for the banking industry and the financial sector in general.

Casino “kingpin” Samrat

Samrat, the then-president of the Dhaka South City Jubo League, and his accomplice Enamul Haque alias Arman were apprehended in Cumilla on October 6, 2019, during an anti-casino drive by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) for alleged involvement in an illegal casino company. At least 13 persons were arrested during the operation, including expelled Jubo League leader Khaled Mahmud Bhuiyan and notorious contractor GK Shamim. Apart from these four, from September to December of 2019, online casino kingpin Salim Pradhan, BCB director and then director in-charge of Mohammedan Club Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan, then ward 32 councilor of Dhaka North Habibur Rahman aka Mizan, then ward 39 councilor of Dhaka South Moinul Haque alias Manju, then 33 ward councilor of Dhaka North Tarekuzzaman alias Rajeeb, the official of Kalabagan Krira Chakra and central leader of Krishak League Kazi Shafiqul Alam alias F. On November 12, 2019, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed cases against Ismail Hossain Samrat for allegedly amassing properties beyond acknowledged revenue sources and money laundering. He was accused of acquiring properties for Tk 29,480,000 that were not related to his known revenue sources. (Casino scam: Samrat freed, what about the others? 2022)