Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Moinuddin Abdullah has said it is important for everyone to build a mental setup against corruption.

“We should socially boycott the corrupt people. We should not invite them in any social programmes. Corruption will be reduced to a large extent if we all stand against them,” he said at a seminar organised by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) in the capital on Saturday.

Moinuddin Abdullah said, “The general people should also support the commission in its fight against corruption. When a corruption prevention committee is formed in a district or an upazila, the committee members should remain active. But unfortunately, majority of them remain inactive although they use this identity.”

Stating that all departments only want to see the role of the anti-corruption watchdog, the ACC chairman said, “Why complaints of money laundering are sent to the ACC after six months the money is laundered?

“The Bangladesh Bank’s BFIU sends such information after six months of the occurrence. If all departments perform their roles sincerely and timely, then the financial crimes can be prevented at the early stage.”

Speaking at the seminar, HRPB President Advocate Manzil Murshid said, “The investigative reports carried out by the media can be assumed to be almost 100% true. The ACC can take these investigative reports into cognizance and bring the accused under investigation. The government is responsible to take action against corruption.”

Some 19 recommendations were placed from the seminar to battle corruption including publishing the wealth statements of the anti-corruption officials on the ACC website every two years, raising the number of members of the commission to seven from the existing three, increasing the ACC manpower three times, and forming a separate team to investigate the complaints received against the influential persons.