DGHS official, wife siphoned off Tk 40cr
Suspended accountant of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Abzal Hossain and his wife Rubina Khanam have laundered about Tk 40 crore abroad, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) found in its investigation.
Abzal, who surrendered before court on August 26th, faced a 14-day remand on two separate cases filed by the anti-graft body.
An ACC official, preferring anonymity, said the Tk 40 crore is dispersed across 20 bank accounts in three countries, including Canada, Australia and Malaysia.
Sources said that the commission is trying to freeze the accounts.
On June 27 last year, the ACC filed two separate cases with ACC Integrated District Office-1 of Dhaka-1.
The first case was filed against Abzal and Rubina on charges of laundering Tk 264 crore worth of money.
The other case was filed against Abzal on charges of laundering Tk 20.74 crore.
Although Abzal was a fourth-grade government employee, his five houses, including one in Uttara, several plots, and a house abroad, were inconsistent with his legal income, said a letter issued by the health ministry on January 13 last year.
The health ministry suspended Abzal on charges of corruption on January 14.
On January 21, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court ordered confiscation of all properties owned by Abzal and his wife, a stenographer of the Medical Education and Health Manpower Development Project under the DGHS, and the freezing of all their bank accounts.
On March 18, the ACC seized Abzal's five-storey building, Tamanna Villa, located on road 11 in Uttara's sector-13.
SAMRAT CASE
Meanwhile, the ACC has found evidence against expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Chowdhury Samrat, one of the "casino kingpins" in Dhaka, of siphoning off over Tk 200 crore to Singapore and Malaysia, sources said.
He spent most of the money while gambling at casinos, source said.
Source said that between 2011 and 2019, Samrat laundered 3.65 crore Singaporean dollars -- around Tk 226.30 crore. He also laundered another 2 lakh Malaysian ringgit -- around Tk 40 lakh.
On September 13, the the Criminal Investigation Department of police filed a case against Samrat for siphoning off Tk 195 crore to Singapore and Malaysia with the help of Enamul Haque Arman, another leader of the ruling party's youth wing.
In its investigation, the CID found that Samrat, 49, had visited Singapore 35 times, Malaysia thrice, Dubai twice, and Hong Kong once between 2011 to 2019, according to the case statement.
In those eight years, Samrat's associate Arman, 56, also visited Singapore 23 times.
In the FIR, the CID mentioned that Samrat earned money through various illegal activities in Motijheel, Fakirapool, Paltan, and Kakrail areas.
On October 6, 2019, Rapid Action Battalion arrested Samrat, who was the president of Dhaka South unit Jubo League, and Arman, former vice-president of the same unit, from Cumilla after raiding a house near the Indian border.
He came under the spotlight after Rab busted his illegal casino business at different sporting clubs in Dhaka. Following the incident, he was expelled from the Jubo League.
Comments