When corruption crosses borders

Not far from the glittering skyline of downtown Toronto, inthe leafy suburbs of Mississauga and Markham, stand rows of palatial homes - elegant, glass-fronted, and conspicuously quiet.

- SANGRAM DATTA

To a casual visitor, these neighbourhoods look like any other prosperous corner of suburban Canada. But to Bangladeshis, they symbolize something far darker: adestination for the country’s looted wealth. A recent exposé by Bangladesh Pratidin, one of the nation’s largest newspapers, has reignited debate over “Begumpara,” a term now synonymous with corruption, luxury, and flight from accountability. The report, published on 5 October, claims that since August 2024, Bangladesh's interim government has launched initiatives to recover billions of dollars siphoned overseas — much of it ending up in Canada.

Investigators believe at least 1000 Bangladeshis suspected of large-scale money laundering have made Canada their permanent home. They include senior bureaucrats, influential businesspeople, and politicians who accumulated immense fortunes through corruption before quietly moving their assets abroad.

Between 2006 and November 2024, more than 44,000 Bangladeshis obtained Canadian permanent residency (PR), according to official Canadian immigration data. Most were ordinary migrants - professionals, students, and families seeking stability and opportunity. But a small, powerful subset took advantage of the now-defunct Investor Visa Program, which allowed wealthy foreigners to buy residency through financial investments. Canadian authorities eventually scrapped the program in 2014, citing evidence that it had become a gateway for global elites to evade taxes and accountability. Yet by then, hundreds of well-connected Bangladeshis had already used it to move millions of dollars out of the country - sometimes through elaborate financial networks designed to conceal their tracks.