TDS Desk:

The High Court on Sunday sought information from authorities concerned on actions taken against those involved in the alleged embezzlement of at least Tk20,000 crore from aspiring expatriate workers promising to send them to Malaysia.

Deputy Attorney General Tushar Kanti Roy has been asked to inform the court in this regard within the next seven working days after talking to the relevant people including the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

The High Court bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice SM Masud Hossain Dolan passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed over the matter in the public interest.

Advocate Tanveer Ahmed stood on behalf of the writ in the court. He had filed the writ petition with the court previously following the publication of a media report by a national daily newspaper on 2 June that claimed Tk20,000 crore had been embezzled from 30,000 Malaysia-bound workers.

According to expatriate ministry data, a total of 16,970 aspiring expatriates failed to go to Malaysia within the 31 May deadline set by the Malaysian government, despite obtaining permission from the Bangladesh Manpower Employment and Training Bureau (BMET).

Many were unable to secure tickets due to delays caused by recruiting agencies.