“Captured by evils” – combating black money, corruption and money laundering in Bangladesh

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the recurrent amnesties to black money holders (BMHs) in Bangladesh have not benefited the national economy, rather have increased corruption and money laundering, and that offering further opportunity to whiten back money as recommended by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh will do more harm than good. Design/methodology/approach - This research relies on both primary and secondary materials adopting an archival analysis of the existing literature. Findings - The major findings include the following: the recurrent amnesties to BMHs have damaging impacts on corruption and money laundering in Bangladesh; the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh’s recommendation to provide further opportunity to legalise black money is flawed, ill thought-out and misjudgement of the futility of the amnesties offered to date; and the black money problem could be better addressed through using educational, preventive and punitive measures that have been specifically formulated in this paper. Research limitations/implications - This research does not examine the flaws that may remain in the provisions of existing laws; rather it gives emphasis to the enforcement of the law in place. Legal flaws thus can be a subject matter of another endeavour. Practical implications - As implications, it is expected that this research will encourage the concerned authorities in Bangladesh to stop offering amnesties to BMHs for good. Also, other countries facing a similar problem can learn from the experience of Bangladesh presented, and specific recommendations submitted, in this paper, in dealing with black money, corruption and money laundering. Social implications - It is expected that if the recommendations furnished in this paper are implemented, corruption in, and money laundering from, Bangladesh will reduce. This reduction will facilitate ensuring fairness in the society in many respects, deter criminal activities associated with black money and enable honest taxpayers to buy their homes in a level-playing filed. Originality/value - This paper presents original research in terms of analysis of materials and the recommendations submitted to deal with corruption, black money and money laundering.