The Criminal Investigation Department has filed a Tk 245-crore money laundering case against four people, including a former staff member of Bagerhat Deputy Commissioner鈥檚 office, Abdul Mannan Talukder.
The financial crime unit of the CID filed the case with Bagerhat sadar police station on Wednesday, said a press release signed by CID special superintendent of police (media) Jasim Uddin Khan on Thursday.
Three other accused in the case are Anisur Rahman, Saleha Begum and Mannan鈥檚 wife Jasmine Nahar.
Preliminary investigation into the money laundering found that the accused were involved in transferring the deposits of Tk 245,23,33,000 from 19,967 general investors by promising high profits for a company named New Bashundhara Real Estate Limited.
Investigators found that Mannan served as a staff member in the Bagerhat DC office from 1984 to 2010 and was involved in buying and selling land during his government service. His employment at the DC office led to his connection with people at various levels of the administration.
After retirement, Mannan founded a real estate company, New Bashundhara Real Estate, where he and his family own 95 per cent share while Anisur owns 5 per cent share.
The company lured investors by offering high profits for investing in the company and collected the laundered amount till June 2018. From the investors鈥� money, Mannan invested Tk 66,02,67,000 in his six affiliated companies, namely Ajax Jute Mills Limited in Khulna, Sabil Dredging and Engineering Limited, Sabil Law Plaza, Sabil Fisheries Project, Sabil Agricultural Development Project in Bagerhat and Sabil General Hospital in Pirojpur, according to the CID investigation.
It also found that the rest of the invested money was transferred to other organisations anonymously.
鈥楬e fraudulently transferred Tk 245,23,33,000 of the investors to his other companies in the name of leasing,鈥� said the press release.
