Transparency International Bangladesh released a report stating 70.9 percent of households had paid bribes to get government services in various sectors. Passports offices, law enforcement agencies, and the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority are the top three bribe receivers. In August media sources published a story that claimed government fuel subsidies were not used for the benefit of citizens but rather for corporations. The story claimed uncompetitive deals and collusive investing from politically connected investors cost the taxpayers an estimated $1 billion a year. In August the ACC opened an investigation into a former joint secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports for amassing 23.5 million taka ($235,000) in illegal wealth. At the time, the accused was the director of Planning and Development of Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation. In September news outlets reported patients had to pay bribes to access and receive services at the Rangpur medical college hospital. Hospital authorities transferred 16 staff members as punishment for violating discipline and extorting service seekers, but local community members alleged the extortion continued. Section 5. Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights Several domestic and international human rights groups investigated and published their findings on human rights cases, but they generally operated with significant government restrictions. Government officials were rarely cooperative and responsive to their reports, occasionally verbally attacking critical organizations and activists by name. Although human rights groups often sharply criticized the government, they also practiced self-censorship. Observers alleged the government strategically reduced the effectiveness and inhibited operations of civil society through restrictions that were further exacerbated by threats from extremists and an increasingly entrenched leading political party. Even civil society members affiliated with the ruling party reported receiving threats of arrest from the security forces for public criticism of Page 33