DHAKA: Bangladesh Customs and Bangladesh Bank (BB) checked jointly Final disposal of seized gold and foreign currencies in a bid to resolve confusion over proper depository of the smuggled items.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has recently sent letters to the commissioners of Dhaka, Chittagong, Benapole and Sylhet customs houses, instructing them to form inter-departmental committees in their respective customs houses in this regard.
The NBR Customs Wing initiated the move, following recommendations of Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation.
The directorate made the plea to resolve widespread confusion on where the seized gold and currencies are going or whether or not they are disappearing on the way to final disposal.
The volume of gold seizure has increased significantly after the customs intelligence teams intensified their vigilance recently.
“We often come across some questions regarding disposal of the seized gold,” said director general (DG) of customs intelligence Dr Moinul Khan.
To clear confusion, the directorate proposed an inter-departmental committee to check each of the cases, detected in recent times, and the volume of seized gold, deposited to the central bank, he also said.
Findings of the committee will be made public to address questions regarding depository of seized gold, he added.
The committees, comprising customs and BB official, will submit their respective reports to NBR. The reports will include depository of seized gold and foreign currencies to BB and process of their disposal from the central bank since July 2010.
The terms of reference of the committees will include numbers and dates of departmental cases, depository codes in respective customs houses, date and number of depository in BB, details of disposals, and reasons of unsettled departmental cases etc.
