The Special Court-3 set up at the MP Hostel in the parliament complex in the capital also fined Lobi Tk 25 lakh in default of which he will have to spend another one and a half years in jail.

Judge Shahed Nuruddin of the court also directed the government to confiscate Lobi's wealth worth Tk 17.23 crore, including Tk 15 crore in fixed deposit receipts (FDR) with four banks in the city.

Lobi was sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment under section 166 of the Income Tax Ordinance 1984 for evading tax and three years' simple jail under section 165 of the same ordinance for providing false information about his wealth and concealing property information.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) filed the case against the former BNP lawmaker on May 23.

According to the charge, Lobi evaded income taxes of Tk 4.30 crore by concealing information about Tk 17.23 crore between fiscal years 1984-85 and 2006-2007.

Prosecution lawyer Musharraf Hossain Kajol told The Daily Star, "The NBR has never used the law against tax evaders. This is the first case [for tax evasion] in the history of the country. The accused has been given an exemplary punishment."

Defence lawyers Sarder Zinnat Ali and Mohammad Shah Alam expressed dissatisfaction, saying the verdict was given "hastily" in their absence before the known starting time of the court at 2:00pm. They said the court delivered the verdict within a few minutes of sitting around 1:00pm.

Lobi had been brought to the parliament complex at 10:00am from Kashimpur Jail.

Lobi's counsels said they will appeal with the High Court against the verdict on receipt of its copy.

The judgment was prepared after examining the investigation report and depositions of 18 witnesses.

The conviction will be effective with the pronouncement of the verdict.

Apart from the Tk 15 crore fixed deposits with Mercantile Bank, Dutch Bangla Bank, Prime Bank and Dhaka Bank, other properties of Lobi to be confiscated are plots in Motijheel and Khulna and a CNG filling station in Dhaka.

According to the charge, Lobi did not mention in his wealth statement that he has Tk 15 crore in his name.

Defence lawyers said manpower agency Rupsha Overseas owns the money and deposited it in six FDRs in the name of Lobi, who is the managing director of the organisation.

The prosecution argued that the manpower agency was abolished earlier and has no existence.

The defence lawyers alleged that although they submitted the tax return and revised it thrice, the authorities concerned neither did send them any receipt letter (assessment order) nor issued show cause notice following the submission.

"The accused was not given any chance to explain his position regarding the charge, which was framed against the accused forcibly," said defence lawyer Shah Alam.

The joint forces arrested Lobi from his Gulshan-1 house on February 6 and seized Tk 9.75 crore from there.

Mohammad Nurul Amin, deputy tax commissioner of Taxpayers' Service Wing of the NBR, filed the case with a Senior Special Judge's Court on May 23. The court sent the case to the Special Court on May 30.

Charges were framed against Lobi on June 5 and witnesses' deposition was taken from June 7 to June 18.

The deposition of the accused was taken under section 342 on June 20 and on July 1 the court fixed July 5 for declaration of the verdict.

Meanwhile, charges in another graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against Lobi will be framed next Sunday.

ACC official Shirin Parveen lodged the case against Lobi with Gulshan Police Station on March 21 for giving false wealth report.

Lobi in his wealth statement submitted to the ACC mentioned that he owns wealth worth Tk 7 crore, but an ACC investigation has already revealed that he has Tk 22.25 crore fixed deposits in seven accounts.