DHAKA: External Panel of the World Bank (WB), comprising eminent international experts, arrived here early today (Sunday) to work with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to probe the alleged graft in Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) project.

The three-member WB panel, consisting of well known experts, will hold meeting with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) officials some time today.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, a former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, is leading the delegation.

The other member of the panel are -- Timothy Tong, former commissioner of the Independent Commission against Corruption in Hong Kong, and Richard Alderman, a former director of the UK Serious Fraud Office.

Panel chief 60-year-old Ocampo is an Argentine lawyer and the first prosecutor of the ICC. He previously worked as a prosecutor in Argentina, famously combating corruption and prosecuting human rights abuses by top military commanders in the Trial of the Juntas.

The panel will submit reports to the World Bank and also share its findings with the government of Bangladesh and other co-financiers of the project.

Earlier, on October 5, the World Bank appointed the three-member panel of international experts to assess the credibility of the investigation by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) into the alleged corruption in the Padma Bridge project.

News: The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/14th-Oct-12