234 billion dollars were smuggled during the Awami League government: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman informed the National Parliament on Wednesday that approximately $234 billion was laundered abroad during the tenure of the previous Awami League administration. Responding to a query from MP Md. Abul Kalam, the Prime Minister cited a government-formed white paper committee's findings, stating that an average of $16 billion (approx. 1.8 trillion BDT) flowed out of the country annually between 2009 and 2023.

To recover these assets, the government has identified 10 key destination countries—including the US, UK, and Switzerland— and is in the process of signing Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAT) with them.

Currently, authorities have frozen assets totaling over 70,446 crore BDT both domestically and internationally, while 141 money laundering cases are being pursued by an inter-agency task force to ensure accountability and the return of the stolen wealth.