51 indicted in Destiny scam cases
A Dhaka court yesterday framed charges against Managing Director of Destiny Group Rafiqul Amin, Destiny 2000 President Lt Gen (retd) Harun-Ar-Rashid and 49 others in two money laundering cases involving around Tk 4,200 crore.
Amin and five others, now in jail, while Harun, now on bail, pleaded not guilty and demanded justice after Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah of the Senior Special Judge's Court read out the charges to them.
Earlier in the day, the court rejected all the seven discharge petitions submitted by Amin, Harun and five others. The court issued arrest warrants for Destiny Group Director Farah Diba, also wife of Amin, and 43 others as they have been absconding.
The court transferred the cases to the Special Judge Court-5 for trial and fixed September 29 to start trial of the cases.
On August 17, the High Court directed the lower court to pass an order by August 24 on charge framing against Amin and others.
On May 4, 2014, the Anti-Corruption Commission pressed charges against the 51 people accused in the two cases.
They were charged with misappropriating funds through Destiny Tree Plantation project and from Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd, according to the ACC.
The group's irregularities came under the spotlight in early 2012 after the central bank found that it had been involved in illegal banking.
In July 2012, the ACC filed two cases against 22 Destiny officials on charges of laundering money.
Top officials of Destiny misappropriated about Tk 4,200 crore through its tree plantation project and the cooperative firm and laundered this money abroad, the charge sheets state.
The officials embezzled the money in the name of paying salaries, honoraria, commission, incentives and promotional costs. They transferred the money to their bank accounts and those of the 20 companies under the group.
At the same time, they also misappropriated Tk 2,433 crore from 17.5 lakh investors by claiming that they had sold 6.18 crore saplings under the tree plantation project. In reality the group planted only 32 lakh trees, according to the ACC's findings.
In another development, the Supreme Court yesterday extended until October 31 its earlier orders that stayed the bail of two Destiny Group top officials, including its Managaing Director Rafiqul Amin, in two money laundering cases.
The other official is Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd Chairman Mohammad Hossain.
On July 20, the High Court granted bail to the duo in the cases on condition that they will submit their passports to the trial court so that they cannot leave the country before completion of the trial proceedings of the cases.
Yesterday, a five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the extension orders during hearing of two separate leave to appeal petitions filed by the ACC against the HC orders that granted bail to Rafiqul and Hossain on July 20.
The apex court also fixed October 31 for resuming hearing of the leave to appeal petitions.
Following two stay petitions of the ACC, the court on July 31 stayed the HC orders of bail until August 11 and then it extended the stay orders until yesterday.
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