The involvement of government officials and employees in various forms of corruption, including amassing illegal wealth, bribery, abuse of power, and money laundering, has increased manifold in recent years in Bangladesh.
Government officials now top the list of corruption cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission, followed by private jobholders, business people, politicians, and public representatives, according to ACC data.
According to experts, corruption by government officials is increasing as corrupt officials are not being punished after committing corruption and they advised the government to ensure a quick disposal of the ACC cases for prompt punishment.
Asked about the trend of the graft cases, former ACC director general Md Moyeedul Islam told 抖阴精品, 鈥業n our country, no one faces consequences for corruption; instead, they gain social status and as such involvementw in corruption, including by government officials, is increasing.鈥�
The ACC is mostly working over corruption by government officials, but they are not working much over money laundering and amassing wealth beyond known sources of income by other people, which is also a reason for higher numbers of government officials accused of corruption, he further said.
Noting that the social and political environment in the country is also conducive to corruption, he said that there were strong laws against corruption but graft is not being prevented due to lack of effectiveness of the ACC and of goodwill of government and political parties.
Data show that the ACC conducted inquiries over 292 complaints from January to March this year and filed total 153 cases against 477 people over graft allegations. Of the accused, 144 were government officials, 113 private jobholders, 60 politicians, 44 businesspeople, 11 public representatives, and 105 from other professions.
The number of government officials in the list of accused during the January-March period is more than the number for the 12 months in 2023.
In 2024, the ACC filed cases against 346 government jobholders, 187 private jobholders, 71 businesspeople, 32 politicians, 30 public representatives, and 205 other professions.
In 2023, 120 accused were government jobholders, 33 private jobholders, eight business people, two politicians, 12 public representatives and 50 from other professions.
Contacted, ACC director general (prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain told 抖阴精品 that the ACC was focusing on offences by government officials as per the ACC law because most of the accused in corruption cases were public servants.鈥�
He said, 鈥楾he ACC is working with utmost sincerity to prevent corruption by government officials as well as corruption by other people as per the relevant law.鈥�
Data show that the country鈥檚 government offices also heavily indulged in corruption during the Awami League regime when people could not get services from most of the offices without bribe.
According to a Transparency International Bangladesh survey titled 鈥楥orruption in Service Sectors: National Household Survey 2023鈥� released in December, 2024, the Department of Immigration and Passports was found to be the most corrupt service provider, followed by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, and law enforcing agencies.
The survey also found that almost 71 per cent of the surveyed households faced corruption while getting service in 2023 while 50.8 per cent of the households had to pay bribes to get service.
Service seekers paid an estimated Tk 1.46 lakh crore in bribes between 2009 and April 2024 to access essential facilities during the tenure of the Awami League regime, said the survey.
After the fall of the Awami league regime on August 5, 2024 amid a student-led mass uprising and the formation of Professor Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, the ACC has intensified its anti-graft drive across the country.
As a result, the ACC filed a total of 399 cases over the past year between July 2024 and June 2025 on charges of corruption and money聽 laundering against many influential people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her family members, former ministers, lawmakers, senior bureaucrats, police and army officials, and businesspeople.
Data show that a total of 768 inquiries were initiated from July 2024 year to June this year and 399 cases were filed while charge sheets were submitted in 321 cases.
Although the ACC is officially an independent organisation, it has long faced criticism for operating under government influence and the fallen AL government often used the ACC as a tool to harass opposition people in the past.
ACC chair Mohammad Abdul Momen at a press briefing past month, however, said that they were working based on evidence and following law.
Anyone currently in power will also be investigated if specific allegations were raised against them, he said.
Transparency International in its Corruption Perception Index 2024 indicated that corruption was increasing in Bangladesh as the country slipped by steps in its global Corruption Perception Index to 151, jointly with Congo and Iran.
Bangladesh has scored 23 to become the 14th most corrupt country globally and the second most corrupt state in South Asia, only ahead of Afghanistan scoring 17.聽 In 2023, Bangladesh ranked 149th with a score of 24, according to the report.