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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10801268
15 August 2010 Last updated at 04:38 GMTThe Bangladeshi army has over the years played a key role in the country's political life, but it has now also emerged as a major player in the business arena, with interests spread across all the major sectors of the economy.
Following the example of the Pakistan army, it has been thriving under successive civilian governments. But there are now signs of unease about it within the force itself and within wider society.
Evidence of the army's wealth and influence is not hard to find.
The five star Dhaka Radisson hotel - which offers guests use of the nearby deluxe army golf course - is owned by the Bangladesh Army Welfare Trust (AWT) and was established on military land.
'Commercial advantage'There are five other top hotels in Dhaka, but none can provide a package that exploits military real estate.
Capitalising on its success with the Dhaka Radisson, the AWT is now building another five-star hotel in the port city of Chittagong.
A leading hotelier who did not wish to be identified told the BBC that the use of cheaper military-land amid sky-rocketing land prices in Dhaka has given the army a clear commercial advantage against other players.
In addition to a recently-built fast-food shop aimed at the affluent middle class in Dhaka, the army's other big business these days is the Trust Bank. Set up under civilian rule, it has now grown into a fully-fledged commercial bank with about 40 branches nationwide.
In 2007, the military-backed caretaker government granted it exclusive rights to receive fees for passports.
Former senior civil servant Akbar Ali Khan says that this is against the government's procurement rules - and there should have been an open tender to ensure that the cheapest and best passport service was selected.
Impropriety deniedWhile bank officials say it played by the rules and received no special favours from the government, its audited accounts - first released in 2007 - caused much controversy.
They revealed that the-then army chief, Gen Moeen U Ahmed, got loans several times larger than the rules allow.
At the time, he was chairman of the Trust Bank by virtue of the fact that he was head of the army. And Bangladesh was being ruled by an army-backed interim government.
Gen Ahmed denies any impropriety, arguing that questions over the size of the loan are an attempt "to malign" him.
And there are other parts of the forces which have their own banks. The Civil Defence Force runs the Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party Bank - known as the Ansar VDP Bank. This bank, set up in 1995 by the government, has not yet received any banking licence and functions like a credit society.
But the army's interests do not end here.
Ice cream salesIf you are buying any ice-cream in rural areas of the country, you may be getting a product of an army-owned business, that of the Sena Kallyan Sangstha (SKS).
The SKS is a welfare foundation whose function is to care for the welfare of veterans and family members of servicemen.
Among other things, the SKS now owns concerns in food, textiles, jute, garments, electronics, real estate and travel.
It is now evident that the Bangladeshi armed forces have been largely following the business model developed so successfully by their Pakistani counterparts.
In Pakistan, the military's Fauji Foundation has a huge involvement in trade and industry.
Using the Pakistani model, the AWT was founded in 1998 during the previous rule of the Awami League led by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The irony is that military business interests have thrived more under civilian rule than under martial law regimes.
The growth of military involvement in commerce has had serious repercussions for the armed forces themselves.
The official probe into the country's worst ever mutiny by the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border guards in 2009 - which left at least 68 high ranking military officials dead - bears this out.
Commission Chairman M Anisuzzaman Khan said that the mutiny was partly fuelled by resentment among the BDR's rank-and-file over the corruption of army officers engaged in the retail sale of consumer items.
It recommended that no forces - military or civil defence - should be allowed to engage in commercial or business activities.
''Law and order forces are meant for defending the country, they are not supposed to run factories or business units," Mr Khan said.
UneaseBut an empire worth at least $500m is growing daily and becoming stronger. Plans obtained by the BBC reveal that the army's business ambitions include power plants and even the insurance businesses - no potential business sector seems out of its sights.
Although the army headquarters agreed to respond to the queries made by the BBC, our repeated requests for interviews did not materialise and no response was actually made.
But a number of retired generals have expressed their unease over the army's extensive exposure in the fields of trade and industry.
Lt Gen (Retired) Mahbubur Rahman - who entered politics few years back and served as the chairman of the standing committee on the Ministry of Defence in the previous parliament - told the BBC that the military "should keep within its charter of duties and not engage or get involved in any financial transactions - especially for business".
"We have witnessed how such activities can bring disaster,'' he said.
A number of leading figures in business and civil society have admitted that many army-owned businesses are virtually indistinguishable from other commercial enterprises in the way they operate.
But as its ambitions develop, it seems that the debate about whether or not the army should engage in such activities will also grow.
Koko Matters: US Department of Justice filed forfeiture Action to Recover ~ $3 Million in Illegal Proceeds from bribes paid to Arafat "Koko" Rahman......US Department of Justice Press Release:
CRM
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888
Department of Justice Seeks to Recover Approximately $3 Million in Illegal Proceeds from Foreign Bribe Payments
WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice has filed a forfeiture action against accounts worth nearly $3 million that are alleged to be the proceeds of a wide-ranging conspiracy to bribe public officials in Bangladesh and their family members in connection with various public work projects, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division announced today.
The forfeiture action was filed Jan. 8, 2009, in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia against funds located in Singapore held by multiple account holders. The forfeiture complaint relates primarily to alleged bribes paid to Arafat "Koko" Rahman, the son of the former prime minister of Bangladesh, in connection with public works projects awarded by the government of Bangladesh to Siemens AG and China Harbor Engineering Company. According to the forfeiture complaint, the majority of funds in Koko's account are traceable to bribes allegedly received in connection with the China Harbor project, which was a project to build a new mooring containment terminal at the port in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
"This action shows the lengths to which U.S. law enforcement will go to recover the proceeds of foreign corruption, including acts of bribery and money laundering," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich. "Not only will the Department, for example, prosecute companies and executives who violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, we will also use our forfeiture laws to recapture the illicit facilitating payments often used in such schemes."
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (Siemens AG), a German corporation, and three of its subsidiaries pleaded guilty on Dec. 15, 2008, to violations of and charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Specifically, Siemens Bangladesh admitted that from May 2001 to August 2006, it caused corrupt payments of at least $5,319,839 to be made through purported business consultants to various Bangladeshi officials in exchange for favorable treatment during the bidding process on a mobile telephone project. At least one payment to each of these purported consultants was paid from a U.S. bank account.
According to the forfeiture complaint, the bribe payments from Siemens AG and China Harbor Engineering Company were made in U.S. dollars, and the illicit funds flowed through financial institutions in the United States before they were deposited in accounts in Singapore, thereby subjecting them to U.S. jurisdiction. Money laundering laws in the United States cover financial transactions that flow through the United States involving proceeds of foreign offenses, including foreign bribery and extortion.
In August 2006, the President announced a National Strategy to Internationalize Efforts Against Kleptocracy to fight high-level corruption around the world. This strategy combines the policy and law enforcement tools of several federal agencies, including the Departments of Justice, Treasury, State and Homeland Security.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Chief Linda Samuel and Trial Attorney Frederick Reynolds of the Criminal Division's Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section. Additional assistance was provided by the Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs. The case was investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office in cooperation with Bangladeshi law enforcement.
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/January/09-crm-020.html
[PDF] February 2010. - FCPA News and Insights
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a decisive role in the investigation and prosecution of siemens ag, .... according to ms. grynberg's complaint, Us$90 million in illegal .... worth nearly Us$3 million that are alleged to be the proceeds of a ... action related primarily to alleged bribes paid to arafat "Koko" Rahman, the son of the former prime ...
www.arnoldporter.com/.../FCPA_newsletter_February_2010_FINAL.pdf[PDF] The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Enforcement Trends in 2010 and ...
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... purportedly contained $3 million in pro- ceeds from bribes paid to arafat "Koko" rahman, son of the .... Siemens to disgorge $350 million in profits, in addition to the ..... approximately $3 Million in Illegal Proceeds from Foreign ...
www.jonesday.com/.../FCPA%20Enforcement%20Trends.pdf - SimilarWould 'Kokogate' spare Khaleda Zia's family?
The US Department of Justice has already moved to confiscate around $3 million from bank accounts of Koko maintained in Singapore and the forfeiture action ...
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The BNP chairperson's youngest son, Arafat Rahman.— New Age photo [ File Photo]
An Indian entrepreneur is relaunching the famous East India Company with the opening of a luxury food store in London on Saturday.The event takes place on the same day that - more than 135 years ago - the company was dissolved.
At the height of its power, the East India Company controlled large parts of India with its own armed forces.But it was disbanded after soldiers of the company's own army rose in revolt against the British in 1857.A tiny rump of the company lived on, however, consisting of its trading name and a small tea and coffee concern.
This shadow of what was once a global trading power was acquired in 2005 by Indian businessman Sanjiv Mehta, who has turned it into a consumer brand focused on luxury foodstuffs.He told the BBC that the project was not simply a commercial venture - there was an emotional connection too.
"It is a dream come true to build a business like this and to acquire a brand like this to own the company," he said. Mr Mehta dismissed fears that the reappearance of a company long associated with colonialism would open old wounds, insisting he had been inundated with messages of support from his compatriots. "It's a disproportionate joy, [I have received] more than 15,000 e-mails [of support] from various Indians across India, even from Barbados to Fiji to Canada to Boston."
The entrepreneur, who moved to Britain around 20 years ago, says that he has acquired a 400-year-old brand already known to millions of people around the world.At its peak, the company employed a third of the British workforce and was responsible for a huge tranche of global trade.Mr Mehta hopes eventually to make a return to India to tap the market for luxury goods in one of the world's fastest expanding economies.
The company was created by the granting of a charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 and given a monopoly on English trade to Asia. Its early business activities focused on cotton, silk and tea.Mr Mehta's shop in London is stocked with 350 luxury products, including 100 varieties of tea, chocolates, spices and mustards developed by the company from across the world.
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