Bangladesh telegram fraud probed

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/7852923.stm

Version 0 of 1.

The Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating allegations of massive fraud at the country's telegraph offices.

With the advent of email, fax machines and mobile telephones, hardly anyone uses telegrams these days.

However, the investigators say they have discovered that millions of dollars have been spent employing hundreds of staff in telegraph offices.

They have advised the government to close the offices down.

State-owned focus

Most Bangladeshis stopped sending telegrams a long time ago.

But investigators, who are auditing the state-owned Bangladesh Telecommunications Company, say it continues to operate 460 telegraph offices, employing 883 members of staff, even though do they virtually no work.

The investigators say this has cost the government approximately $4m since 2001, much of which, they believe, has been stolen.

Other employees of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company are also being investigated.

The Anti-Corruption Commission says it will file charges against 38 individuals, who between them are accused of pocketing more than $5m.

Bangladesh's new government, which was elected in December, has promised to support the work of the commission, which was empowered by the previous, army-backed government, to clean up a country often described as the world's most corrupt.

It appears now to be concentrating on state-owned firms and utilities.

Charges which had been brought against many leading politicians, including new Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, have been dropped, after they complained that the accusations were politically driven.