The Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday summoned Bashundhara Group chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan to appear at the commission tomorrow over an inquiry into allegations of amassing illegal wealth against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 defence and security adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique.
The commission also summoned retired Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique and his wife Shaheen Siddique to appear tomorrow, said its deputy director for public relations Aktarul Islam.
The commission sent a letter signed by its deputy director Monirul Islam, also inquiry officer of the probe, to Ahmed Akbar Sobhan asking him to appear at 12:00 noon on Wednesday (July 2) at the ACC headquarters in the capital鈥檚 Segunbagicha.
It summoned him to record Ahmed Akbar Sobhan鈥檚 statement in connection with the allegations against Tarique Ahmed, said the notice.
Earlier, the commission formed a seven-member team, headed by Monirul Islam, to conduct an inquiry into allegations of amassing illegal wealth by Tarique Ahmed Siddique and his family members.
Tarique Ahmed, who was Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 security adviser from 2009 until her fall on August 5, 2024 amid a student-led mass uprising, fled the country along with the ousted prime minister.
On June 30, a Dhaka court ordered the ACC to seize assets of Tarique Ahmed Siddique, his wife Shaheen and daughter Nurin Siddique that include a seven-storey house and three flats in Baridhara DOHS in Dhaka city, two flats, four five-katha plots in Purbachal, and one plot in Bashundhara residential area.
Earlier, the agency summoned Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, his son and Bashundhara group managing director Sayem Sobhan Anvir and several other members of the family to appear in May 25鈥�26 over allegations of land grabbing, money embezzlement and laundering.
However, they did not appear at the commission on the scheduled dates.
On April 30, the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court ordered the anti-corruption commission to seize 75.46 crore shares worth Tk 1,458 crore of 22 companies of Bashundhara Group over graft allegations.
The court also asked the anti-graft agency to freeze 70 bank accounts having balance of Tk 19 crore and $10,538 of Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and managing director Sayem Sobhan Anvir and their family members and entities.
Earlier on February 18, the same court ordered the seizure of assets of Sayem Sobhan, his wife Sabrina Sobhan and brother and the group鈥檚 vice-chairman Safwan Sobhan Tasvir in the United Arab Emirates, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.
In October 2024, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit froze the bank accounts of Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and his four sons, while a Dhaka court imposed a travel ban on eight members of his family following an ACC petition.
After the fall of the authoritarian AL regime on August 5, 2024, the commission launched inquiries into allegations of corruption and money laundering by some key business conglomerates, including Bashundhara Group, who were close associates of the immediate past regime.
