A Dhaka court today sentenced eight people, including GK Shamim – a disgraced contractor who gained infamy during the “casino raids” of late 2019, to life term imprisonment in an arms case. The other seven are all GK Shamim’s bodyguards: Md Zahidul Islam, Md Shahidul Islam, Md Kamal Hossain, Md Shamsad Hossain, Md Aminul Islam, Md Delwar Hossain, and Md Murad Hossain. Third Additional Metropolitan Session Court Judge Sheikh Samidul Islam passed the judgment. Read: ACC approves chargesheet against GK Shamim They were brought to the court from jail in the morning. GK Shamim, who was known as an influential contractor of Sabujbagh, Basabo and Motijheel areas of the capital, was arrested on September 20, 2019. Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) seized illegal firearms and fixed deposit receipts worth Tk 165 crore, Tk 1.8 crore in cash and foreign currencies from his house and office at Niketan. Read: GK Shamim indicted for money laundering The elite force filed three cases – one under narcotics control, one under money-laundering prevention and the other under arms act – against Shamim with Gulshan Police Station on September 21. In October 2019, Rab filed a charge sheet against the accused in the arms case. The official trial proceeding in the case began on February 28, after the court framed charges against the eight accused rejecting an appeal for acquittal. Read GK Shamim: Court sets Sept 25 for verdict in arms case

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has said that no one can keep foreign currency notes over $10,000 for more than one month. The central bank issued a notification on Wednesday and sent it to all respected banks for displaying the notification to raise awareness. According to it, a resident Bangladeshi can’t keep a cash of not more than $10,000, or foreign currency of equivalent, or in an authorized dealer bank as a resident foreign currency deposit. Read: Illegal dollar trade: BB summons account details of 28 exchanges The circular also states that it is mandatory for resident Bangladeshi citizens to sell the excess amount of $10,000 to an authorized dealer bank/licensed money changer or deposit it as resident foreign currency deposit within one month of arrival in the country from abroad. The BB notification said that possession of foreign currency outside the limit will be an offense, punishable under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. Resident Bangladeshis are requested to sell unauthorized foreign currency to authorized dealer banks/licensed money changers by September 30. Read BB issues clarification to remove confusion over Foreign Currency Accounts

Customs Intelligence authorities seized 22.99 lakh Saudi Riyals worth Tk 6 crore from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, officials said on Thursday. Customs officials said a passenger identified as Mamun Khan was scheduled to go to Dubai by a flight of Emirates Airlines around 9:30 pm on Wednesday. Read:Two held with 2.30 lakh USD at Dhaka airport During scanning, the customs officials found the foreign currencies in his luggage and seized those. However, no one was arrested as the owner of the luggage managed to flee leaving it behind. The foreign currencies were deposited to the Custom House.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) in clarification said the non-resident Bangladeshis can open foreign currency accounts (FCA) in any scheduled banks in the country and any amount of money can be deposited to those accounts without the BB permission. If the expatriates bring any amount of cash, dollars or other foreign currencies during arrival, they can deposit it to their bank accounts and exchange it in local currency. The expatriates can deposit USD $ 10,000 to their accounts without declaring it to the customs authorities. Also read: BB raises LC margin integrating foreign currencies The BB issued a notification in this regard on Tuesday to inform people and remove the confusion over free transferring of foreign currency abroad. Under the existing foreign exchange transaction policy, Bangladeshis living abroad can operate private foreign currency accounts or non-resident foreign currency deposit accounts in the country’s banks. Any amount of foreign currencies sent from abroad or brought to Bangladesh from abroad can be deposited to these accounts without question. Also read:BB struggles with dollar demand as LCs worth $ 68.36 billion open in 9 months Besides, expatriates during departure can take abroad the money with them in the form of cash, a maximum amount of $ 5,000 and other foreign currency as required subject to the status of balance in the account. The status of these foreign currency accounts operated in the name of expatriates or non-resident Bangladeshis can be freely sent abroad with interest. In this case, no approval of Bangladesh Bank is required.

A stronger US dollar is usually grody news for emerging market economies with heavy dollar-denominated debt. And Bangladesh is no exception. In this country, the corporate sector has borrowed heavily in foreign currencies from external sources at lower interest rates. A stronger dollar has now made their foreign debt expensive, hitting them really hard as they struggle to tide over the Covid-induced economic slowdown. Those entrepreneurs who took hassle-free loans from abroad some five years ago -- when the interest rate on bank loans in Bangladesh was more than 12% -- are now facing the wrath of the appreciating dollar, having forced to count 10% more on money they borrowed at just 3-4% interest. The approved debt from external sources for Bangladesh’s private sector stood at USD 14,003.95 million as of June 2021, of which USD 9,601.27 million had been repaid along with USD 677.37 million interest. In the January to March quarter of the last financial year, the approved external debt for the private sector was USD 617.95 million, while it declined to USD 230.81 million in the last quarter of 2020-21 fiscal, as per Bangladesh Bank (BB) statistics. Read: Govt targets 17% expenditure of GDP for next two fiscals: Document

Separate courts in Dhaka on Sunday placed ‘Golden Monir’ on an 18-day remand in three cases filed over the recovery of foreign currencies, firearms and liquor from his Badda residence.   Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court Judge Abu Bakar put him on a 7-day remand in each two cases filed under the Arms Act and the Special Powers Act.

Customs officials arrested a man along with 'huge foreign currencies equivalent to TK 42 lakh' at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram on Tuesday night.