Questioning who will be held accountable for siphoning off money from Bangladesh, an opposition lawmaker on Thursday told parliament that ministers don't have any accountability like commercial banks.

"[Finance] minister doesn't attend parliamentary sessions. We also don't know about the responsibilities of the ministers. None has any accountability to parliament," said Kazi Firoze Rashid, MP of Jatiya Party.

The opposition lawmaker made the remarks after taking part in an unscheduled talks in Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday (April 6, 2023).

Rashid asked how the country would run if there was no accountability.

"Prime Minister gives bank licences, and the Bangladesh Bank and the Banking Division will determine how the banks would run. They must have to be made accountable. Why people's money are being looted? Who is responsible for it," he asked demanding the formation of a probe body to look into banks' role in money laundering.

Quoting a news published in online news portals, Rashid said South Bangla Bank Limited's former chairman Amzad Hossain left the country with Tk 1,000 crore. Now, he lives in the United States opening business establishments and buying houses there. But, he didn't do that alone. Bangladesh Bank constantly conducts audit in every bank. Tk 1,000 crore was not siphoned off in a day. What did the Ministry of Finance and Bangladesh Bank do to stop him?

"Over the years, people like Amzad Hossain siphoned off hundreds of thousands of taka from various accounts," he said.

Criticising the finance minister, the JP MP said, "We won't be allowed to talk on this particular issue of money laundering in parliament. The Finance Minister doesn't attend sessions in parliament. Even, he doesn't want to hear anything else."

Showing a report published in a newspaper, Kazi Firoze Rashid said, "Neither the finance minister, nor the finance ministry lodged any protest against the report, because they think that Tk 1,000 crore is not a significant amount. They change the seats when the amount is Tk 5,000 crore. They change the seats more if the amount is Tk 10,000 crore."

He lamented that bank directors are taking  people's money abroad. The banks have become family oriented. These are no more called the banks of people. The servants of bank owners will also leave for Singapore, Bank in near future if they suffer from illness.