Trust fund public or private?
The defence counsels of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday placed closing arguments for the seventh day, mainly to establish their arguments that the prosecution had submitted “forged documents” to implicate her in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
But, two defence counsels could not give direct answers to a court's vital question -- whether or not the money Kuwait's Amir sent came directly to the Zia Orphanage Trust.
And after the proceeding while talking to journalists, a prosecution lawyer also raised question about a defence document.
After around three hours of arguments, Judge Akhteruzzaman of Special Judge's Court at Bakshibazar in Old Dhaka adjourned the case proceedings until January 10 when the defence will resume their arguments.
The court began yesterday's proceeding at 11:40am in the presence of Khaleda as her lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali resumed his arguments.
Citing different documents and testimonies of prosecution witnesses, Mohammad Ali said the Amir of Kuwait had sent $126,000 to a private fund to build an orphanage in memory of late president Ziaur Rahman.
But the prosecution submitted “forged documents” to make the private fund appear as a public fund under the Prime Minister's Office only to implicate and harass Khaleda.
At one point, the judge asked the defence counsel whether the money Kuwait's Amir sent came directly to the Zia Orphanage Trust.
When the defence counsel replied in the negative, the judge said, “then how the money came to the Zia Orphanage Trust?”
Mohammad Ali did not give a direct answer. Rather, he said the nature of the fund should be determined first. It was a private fund and the money came for a specific purpose.
When the court asked the same question to Abdur Rezak Khan, another counsel for Khaleda, he also could not provide any direct answer.
According to the case document, Khaleda Zia, when she was the prime minister in between 1991 and 1996, opened an account named “Prime Minister's Orphanage Trust”, with Ramna branch of Sonali Bank.
On June 9, 1991, $126,000 (Tk 4,44,81,216) was deposited to the account from United Saudi Commercial Bank, but the money was not spent for any orphanage in between June 9, 1991 and September 5 of the same year, it said.
Zia Orphanage Trust was established by Khaleda's two sons and a nephew. It was registered on September 5, 1993.
And, Tk 2,33,33,500 was given to Zia Orphanage Trust on November 13, 1993, to establish an orphanage in Bogra, reads the FIR.
The money was deposited to the Trust account on November 15, and Tk 4 lakh was withdrawn from it on December 4, 1993, it added.
Yesterday, AJ Mohammad Ali, also a former attorney general, said Kuwait's embassy in Bangladesh has sent him a letter saying that the Amir of Kuwait said the donation was given to Zia Orphanage Trust.
When the judge asked how much money the Amir donated for the trust, the lawyer said the embassy did not mention the amount.
After the case proceeding, Public Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajal raised the authenticity of the embassy document.
Kajal told journalists that the letter mentioned Mohammad Ali as the former attorney of BNP and had no signature. “They accused us of submitting forged documents. Actually, they are the ones who submitted forged documents,” he said.
Refuting allegations of the defence, Kajal said 10 government officials, who worked at the PMO, and 10 bank officials gave testimonies in the case elaborating everything. The defence counsels, during their cross-examination, did not give any suggestion about the “forged documents” either, he added.
“Now, they are raising the false allegations to divert the issue,” Kajal insisted.
But, Moudud Ahmed, a former law minister and another defence counsel for Khaleda, said as the prosecution submitted “forged documents”, the case should be declared null and void.
He also said actions should be taken against those who have forged the documents.
In July 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the graft case with Ramna Police Station accusing Khaleda, her son Tarique Rahman and four others of misappropriating over Tk 2.1 crore that had come as grants for orphans from a foreign bank.
Three years later, the anti-graft body filed the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon Police Station, accusing four people, including Khaleda, of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from unknown sources.
The case is also pending now.
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