The Anti-Corruption Commission on Thursday filed a petition with a metropolitan special judge court in Chattogram, urging the court to direct the authorities to take initiatives to issue an Interpol red notice against former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed and his wife Rukmila Zaman in connection with a graft case.
The commission also filed a case against the former land minister and 10 others, allegedly for receiving Tk 52 crore as bribes from Thermex Group managing director Abdul Kader Molla.
抖阴精品 staff correspondent in Chattogram reported that the commission submitted a petition with the court of Chattogram senior metropolitan special judge Abdur Rahman, urging the court to direct the authorities to take initiatives to issue an Interpol red notice against Saifuzzaman and Rukmila Zaman.
The court fixed September 21 for a hearing on the petition, said public prosecutor Mokarram Hossain.
On July 24, the anti-graft watchdog鈥檚 deputy director Moshiur Rahman filed a case with the Chattogram district office, accusing the former minister, his wife, siblings, and 31 others of embezzling and laundering Tk 25 crore from United Commercial Bank PLC.
The commission on Wednesday night also arrested two senior officials of Aramit PLC, owned by Saifuzzaman鈥檚 family, in the same case.
The arrestees are Aramit PLC assistant general managers Md Abdul Aziz and Utpal Paul.
A metropolitan magistrate court in Chattogram on Thursday granted a five-day remand for the two accused in the case.
ACC Chattogram office-1 deputy director Subel Ahmed said that both the Aramit officials were arrested Wednesday night and kept in custody at Double Mooring police station.
The statement of the case against Saifuzzaman, his wife, siblings, and 31 others said that Saifuzzaman and his family opened five shell companies in the names of Aramit officials. Through one of the entities, they applied for a 180-day repayable 鈥榯ime loan鈥� at United Commercial Bank, owned by the family, for the import of wheat, chickpeas, turmeric and peas.
After Tk聽25 crore was sanctioned, the fund was diverted to accounts of the other four shell entities before being siphoned abroad, the commission alleged.
The ACC stated that one such shell firm, Imperial Trading, was opened in the name of the arrested official Abdul Aziz. Part of the laundered money was deposited in that company鈥檚 bank account.
The commission said that the fraudulent transactions occurred between 2019 and 2020, when Saifuzzaman was serving as the land minister.
Meanwhile, ACC assistant director Md Sajib Ahmed on Thursday filed a case with the commission integrated district office in Dhaka-1 against Saifuzzaman and 10 others on charges of receiving Tk 52 crore bribes through fraud and abuse of power.
ACC deputy director for public relations Aktarul Islam said that the accused, in collusion with each other, abused their power and committed fraud by intimidating Abdul Kadir Molla, managing director of Thermex Group and client of UCBL Principal Branch, Dhaka, into paying Tk 52 crore as bribes.
The other accused are Rukmila Zaman, Syed Kamruzzaman, former director, UCB PLC, Utpal Paul, assistant general manager, Aramit PLC, Md Abdul Aziz, proprietor of Imperial Trading and assistant general manager of Aramit PLC, Md Jahangir Alam, proprietor of Classic Trading and assistant general manager of Aramit PLC, Md Misbahul Alam, proprietor of Model Trading and administrative officer of Aramit PLC, Md Farid Uddin, proprietor of Radius Trading, Md Zahid, proprietor of Lucent Trading, Nur Mohammad and Md Yasinur Rahman.
Just a few days before the fall of the Awami League regime on August 5, 2024 amid a mass uprising, Saifuzzaman, his wife and other family members left for London.
