The recent investigation report of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) has once again painted a bleak picture of money laundering. The specialised intelligence agency under the National Board of Revenue and responsible for investigating tax evasion and customs fraud has exposed a major money laundering scheme involving 10 export-oriented garment factories, operating under the guise of exporting ready-made garments, managed to illicitly smuggle a staggering $35.3 million (Tk. 3.8 billion). Some newspapers are claiming the amount to be more than that. The law enforcement agencies sometimes unearthed the unheard-of way of laundering money and arrested some people involved in it but the shocking fact is that money laundering is going on in full swing to date.

While our hardworking people, especially expatriate workers and readymade garment workers, have been trying heart and soul to take our country forward with their labour, a coterie of powerful and upper-class people are smuggling out the fruits of their tireless efforts. According to several reports of different national and international NGOs, the amount that is laundered from Bangladesh every year is equivalent to almost 20-25 per cent of the country's GDP. Investment of this huge amount of money inside the country would have contributed to our national economy to a great extent. The amount would be enough to speed up our economic growth and thus make the path towards development smooth.