Bangladesh
US Sanction is an anti corruption tool: Richard Nephew
Dhaka, August 8: Richard Nephew, coordinator of the Global Anti-Corruption Division of the US State Department, mentioned sanctions as an anti-corruption tool.
He said this in a meeting with the Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Masud Bin Momen, at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Monday afternoon. US Ambassador Peter Haas was present at the time. Later, during the press briefing, the secretary said this.
When asked whether economic sanctions are coming on 11 people, he said, there was no discussion about them. As he (Richard) himself was an officer of Sanctions at one time, he did not speak of any individual. Said, 'Sanctions are a tool', there is such thinking.
Regarding the sanction, he said, it is not something of Bangladesh. They say, big project, blue dot application. There will be priority for such projects in case of future investment. However, it was not discussed whether it will be against the individual or against any country.
When asked whether Nefiur had any opinion on money laundering, Masud bin Momen said, money laundering is a part of corruption. We talked about money laundering. We have said that banks or small island countries are easy to launder money. We talked about hundi. There needs to be more transparency and accountability in these. It is not possible for any one country or organization to see it 100 percent. I emphasize cooperation. Because it creates an adverse reaction in the society. But it is a problem in all countries. There is no country in the world where such problems are not present, more or less everywhere.
When asked whether they had any opinion on the image of corruption in Bangladesh, he said, no, maybe they have been discussed elsewhere. Not with us.
