Freeze their 670 bank accounts

A Dhaka court yesterday ordered the authorities concerned to freeze 670 bank accounts and seize 92 deeds of immovable properties of lawmaker Shahid Islam Papul and three of his family members in cases filed over corruption and money laundering.

The other accused are: Papul's wife Selina Islam, a reserved seat MP, their daughter Wafa Islam, and Papul's sister-in-law Jesmin Prodhan.

Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of the Senior Special Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order for freezing 617 bank accounts and seizing the 92 deeds after Anti-Corruption Commission Deputy Director Mohammad Salahuddin, also investigation officer of the graft case, submitted a petition, said ACC Public Prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir.

Meanwhile, the court granted bail to Selina and her daughter Wafa in the graft case after they surrendered before the court yesterday afternoon and appealed for bail.

After the hearing, the court granted them interim bail on condition that they submit their passports, the public prosecutor added.

Jesmin was yet to obtain bail from any court or surrender before it.

Earlier, the High Court ordered Papul's wife Selina and daughter to surrender before the lower court concerned by December 28.

On November 11, the ACC filed the graft case against Papul and three others with its Integrated District Office-1 of Dhaka.

In the case statement, the ACC said Papul, an independent lawmaker from Laxmipur-2, deposited Tk 148.41 crore black money to different bank accounts of his sister-in-law Jesmin to cover his tracks.

Moreover, his wife and daughter have transferred their ill-begotten money to Jesmin's accounts.

The ACC also brought charges against the main accused, Jesmin, for illegally accumulating Tk 2.31 crore.

According to the case, Jesmin's national identity card mentioned that she was born on August 20, 1995, but her passport said her date of birth was November 4, 1997.

She opened an e-TIN account on October 25, 2017, when she was a student, but she had never submitted her income tax returns.

Between October 6, 2016, and August 20, 2019, different individuals and she herself deposited and withdrew about Tk 135.22 crore, reads the FIR.

The allegations surfaced after newspapers in Kuwait reported in February that Papul was running a human trafficking racket in the Middle Eastern country.

The reports said the two Bangladeshi lawmakers and their daughter held key positions in three major companies that sent over 20,000 Bangladeshi workers to Kuwait in exchange for an amount believed to be at least Tk 1,391.6 crore.

Papul, now behind bars in Kuwait, was arrested in the Gulf country in early June. He faces trial on charges of human trafficking and money laundering.

He was accused of taking up to 3,000 Kuwaiti dinars (around Tk 8 lakh) from migrant worker, mostly Bangladeshis, each for sending them to Kuwait.

On February 16, the ACC opened an enquiry into the illegal wealth of Papul and his family members.

In another development, the same court of Judge KM Emrul Kayesh yesterday ordered the authorities concerned to freeze 53 bank accounts and fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) of Papul, his family members and associates following a money laundering case filed by the Criminal Investigation Department with Paltan Police Station.

According to CID findings, Papul and his family members amassed more than Tk 355 crore. Over Tk 130 crore is still in these accounts.

CID officials said they have found evidence that at least Tk 38.22 crore was amassed mainly through human trafficking since 2016.

The accused in this case are -- Papul, his daughter Wafa, brother Kazi Badrul Alam Liton, sister-in-law Jesmin, associates Sadiqur Rahman Monir and Golam Mostafa, and two overseas employment agencies owned by Badrul and Jesmin.

A Dhaka court on Tuesday fixed January 31 for submitting an investigation report of the case.

Apart from the two cases, a human trafficking case was lodged against the Laxmipur-2 lawmaker with Motijheel Police Station, which is being investigated by the CID.