Bangladesh’s financial intelligence authorities are moving to freeze around 14,000 additional mobile financial service accounts suspected of being used for online gambling and digital hundi transactions.
The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit has started the process after receiving information from another government agency. This action follows the freezing of 10,000 MFS accounts in recent weeks.
A senior BFIU official told The Business Standard that criminal networks have exploited mobile financial accounts to move funds connected to gambling and informal money transfers.
“In the past month, we have frozen 10,000 MFS accounts. Based on a report submitted by an agency, we have decided to freeze another 14,000 accounts today. The process is already underway,” the official said, as cited by The Business Standard.
Authorities have identified several individuals believed to be connected to the networks and shared their details with other agencies for further investigation. The BFIU is also working to prevent people whose accounts were frozen for gambling-related activity from opening new MFS accounts using the same national identity cards.
Enforcement shifts towards payment channels and public awareness
Earlier this year, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury told parliament that around 55,000 MFS accounts linked to online gambling and digital hundi activity had been suspended or frozen.
Authorities have focused on the financial infrastructure supporting illegal gambling rather than solely on operators. Officials have repeatedly linked online gambling with money laundering and other financial crimes, making payment accounts and informal transfer systems a central enforcement target.
Bangladesh Bank, the Criminal Investigation Department and mobile financial service provider bKash have also launched a nationwide public awareness campaign. Television adverts, newspapers and social media are being used to warn consumers about the financial and legal consequences of online gambling.
Officials are also challenging the idea that gambling activity conducted online is difficult to detect. Authorities have stressed how digital transactions create records that investigators can actively trace.
New gambling laws broaden powers over online platforms and transactions
Bangladesh expanded its legal framework with the Gambling Prevention Act 2026, which took effect on 1 July after receiving presidential approval. The law replaced the Public Gambling Act of 1867 and extended enforcement to online gambling, sports betting, digital casinos, cryptocurrency-related gambling and associated financial offences.
Authorities can investigate activity across websites, mobile applications, social media platforms and digital payment networks. Regulators also have powers to block gambling websites and disrupt financial channels used to process transactions.
The Cyber Security Act 2026 separately criminalises operating online gambling platforms, participating in online gambling and promoting or advertising gambling services and products.
Offenders can face up to two years in prison, a fine of up to BDT 1 crore, or both. The measures give authorities a wider basis to pursue gambling platforms, financial accounts and payment systems that allow illegal operators to receive and move customer funds.
Bangladesh has frozen over 14,000 accounts used for online gambling and digital hundi transactions. This is because the financial infrastructure was supporting illegal gambling and money laundering. The country also improved its legal framework with the Cyber Security Act 2026.
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