Approximately 20,000 crore taka have not been imported into the country, compared to 30,000 shipments of garment exports. An unscrupulous group, including shipping lines, freight forwarders, and garment owners, is also involved in this.
As per the sources of garment owners, the quantity of goods for which export authorization is granted is not dispatched to the purchaser. The specified amount of money is not being deposited in the bank. Frequently, when the buyer is unable to export within the specified time frame as per the buyer’s request, the buyer discloses their financial predicament during the shipment stage and requests that the documents be sent directly to him instead of through the bank.
AM Mahbub Chowdhury, vice president of the Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber and a garment businessman, wrote to the Chairman of the National Board of Revenue last week regarding the non-return of money from abroad against exports. He identified the tasks to be undertaken by Bangladesh Bank, Customs, BGMEA, Chamber, and district administration. He mentioned in the letter that around 20,000 crore taka has not been received in the country since 1978 against 30,000 export invoices. It is learnt that he filed a case in a local court in Chittagong against one of his own export invoices and has not received any decision for the last 12-13 years.
According to the government’s export guidelines, the export value of the goods is supposed to be returned to the country within six months of export. If the product value is not returned within that period and is less, it will be considered as an overdue by the bank. Again, many times, if the export price is discounted, the less value is returned. In that case, the relevant committee of Bangladesh Bank has to be informed about the discount given to the buyer and approval has to be obtained. In recent years, there has been a trend of shipping lines and freight forwarders delivering goods to buyers without documents from the US or the bank of the concerned country. Buyers do not release the documents sent by the exporter in Bangladesh to their banks but take delivery of the goods in collusion with local forwarders and shipping lines. Because the entire value of the goods has to be paid to release the documents from the bank. Due to this, the foreign bank does not receive the value of the goods in the Bangladesh bank. If the foreign bank does not clear the buyer’s documents on time, it sends them back.
According to the affected garment owners, if Bangladesh Bank plays a direct role in the case of non-return of money in export consignments and uses embassies abroad to take necessary action against foreign buyers and files cases in special cases, it will discourage unscrupulous buyers or exporting shipping lines and freight forwarders from doing illegal work.
Recently, the American buyer of a garment company named Mellow Fashion in Chittagong supplied the goods to the buyer without bank documents by the shipping company and freight forwarders without bank documents. Meanwhile, when Mellow Fashion filed a fraud case against the shipping company and freight forwarders in the local court, the Police Bureau of Investigation held the shipping company and freight forwarders responsible and released the goods in collusion after the investigation.
On behalf of Mellow Fashion, a complaint was filed with the customs against the shipping company and freight forwarders. In response to the allegations, Freight Forwarders America submitted its principal investigation report.
Saifullah Mansur, director of Mellow Fashion, said that foreign fraudsters have looted the country’s money and put a large number of garment owners on the road. He demanded that Bangladesh Bank, NBR, BGMEA, customs, law enforcement agencies and the administration take strict action in this regard.
