DHAKA, Dec 10, 2025 (BSS) - The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) today filed a case against 124 people of 60 recruiting agencies on charges of violating agreements and illegally collecting excess fees from the Malaysia-bound workers.

According to the ACC, the accused unlawfully collected and misappropriated a total of Taka 45.45 billion equivalent to Bangladeshi Taka 4545, 20,82,500 from Malaysia-bound workers violating the existing rules and regulations and laundered the money.

ACC Director General Md. Akhtar Hossain disclosed this information at a regular media briefing at the commissioner headquarters here.

The ACC stated that the accused persons holding various positions in Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), in connivance with each other forming a syndicate charged excess fees than the government-approved cost of Taka 78,990 breaching the terms of the bilateral agreement with the Malaysian government.

According to the investigation, the accused bypassed required procedures related to the contract - such as service selection, fee collection and financial rules and collected excess amount of money from the workers at various stages, including passport processing, medical examinations and other steps. 

They also used political and institutional influence to secure illegal advantages for the recruiting agencies. The ACC reported that the illegally collected funds were transferred, moved and converted through various means for money laundering.

The ACC filed the case under sections120 (B)/161/162/163/164/165(A) /420/ 409/109 of the Penal Code, as well as sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012.

Earlier, another 40 cases were filed against 108 people of 40 overseas recruiting companies for the same reasons. In those cases, the misappropriated amount was Taka 3438 crore 94 lakh 25 thousand. Those cases are currently under investigation.