Bangladesh Police Go After U.N. Official. The Issue: A Used Car. The director general of the customs police, Moinul Khan, said on Thursday that the police were seeking authorization to charge Mr. Priesner with tax evasion and, because he received the proceeds through a foreign bank account, with money laundering. By MAHER SATTARMAY 11, 2017 DHAKA, Bangladesh — The sale of a used car is developing into an unusual criminal case and a potential diplomatic sore point between the United Nations and Bangladesh, whose government has frequently bristled at criticism from the international community. " Referring to the common practice of waiving customs duties on cars imported by senior foreign officials, he added, "He had been given a privilege, and he has misused it." Mr. Khan said that Mr. Priesner had earlier sent a letter of apology over the matter. that The investigating committee has found evidence and presented it. But this was not an unintentional mistake, this was an intentional mistake." The police also plan to ask United Nations headquarters in New York to take action against Mr. Priesner, who is currently the organization’s resident coordinator in Uzbekistan, Mr. Khan said. The United Nations Development Program said in a statement that Mr. Priesner had complied with all Bangladeshi laws in selling his car, and that it will cooperate with the country’s tax agency, the National Board of Revenue, known as the N.B.R. The customs police have also investigated officials from the World Bank and the International Labor Organization for tax evasion. At the heart of the case is an official named Stefan Priesner, an Austrian who headed the United Nations Development Program in Bangladesh from 2008 to 2012.
