The interim government will proclaim a special law (ordinance) soon to bring back the stolen assets home, Chief Adviser`s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said.

He revealed this while speaking at a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy here this afternoon.

Alam said during the Sheikh Hasina regime, about US$ 234 billion was laundered abroad from Bangladesh and of the amount, US$ 17 billion was siphoned off from the country`s banking sector. "It was an extra kind of highway robbery," he added.

The press secretary said since beginning of the interim government, its one of the top priorities was to brining the laundered assets.

Mentioning that a 11-member taskforce, led by Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur, was formed on September 29 last to this end, he said a high-level meeting on prevention of money laundering was held at the State Guest House Jamana here today with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the chair.

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul, Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur, Chief Adviser`s Special Envoy Lutfey Siddiqi, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) chief, the home secretary, the finance secretary and Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Dr Mohammad Abdul Momen were present at the meeting, among others.

About outcome of the meeting, Alam said a special law (ordinance) will be proclaimed soon to accelerate the efforts of repatriating the stolen money and ensure smooth coordination in the works going on in this regard.

Perhaps, he said, the law will be announced next week as it is one of requirements of the firms assisting Bangladesh in returning laundered money.

The press secretary said many works regarding the recovery of stolen assets will be accelerated under the law.

He said the taskforce held talks with around 200 law firms in recovering the laundered money and the special law will help the government sign agreements with the law firms.

The government will sign deals with the reputed international law firms in this regard, Alam added.

Chief Adviser`s Deputy Press Secretaries Abul Kalam Azad and Apurba Jahangir and Assistant Press Secretary Suchismita Tithi were present at the briefing.