Charges pressed against Obaidul Quader, wife

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday pressed charges against detained Awami League (AL) Joint General Secretary Obaidul Quader and his wife Ishratunnesa in a case filed for accumulating wealth illegally and concealing information in Quader's wealth statement.
Meanwhile a Dhaka court has issued arrest warrants against a former member of National Board of Revenue (NBR) ATM Sarwar Hossain and his wife Nazma Sarwar in a case filed against them, also for amassing wealth through illegal means.
CASE AGAINST OBAIDUL QUADER
ACC Assistant Director, and investigation officer (IO) of the case, SM Shahidur Rahman submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court of Dhaka, showing 34 people as prosecution witnesses.
The IO prayed for issuance of arrest warrant against Ishratunnesa and orders to attach her properties, as she has been absconding since the case was filed.
ACC Assistant Director Ashraful Islam filed the case against former state minister for youth and sports Obaidul Quader and his wife on October 30 last year, for concealing information about wealth worth Tk 15.55 lakh and accumulating wealth worth Tk 62.85 lakh illegally.
In the charge sheet, the IO said the charges brought against them had been primarily proved and they should be brought to trial. In the charge sheet, Ishratunnesa was accused of abetting Quader in acquiring the wealth illegally.
The former minister submitted a wealth statement of Tk 1.11 crore through jail authorities on June 14 following an ACC notice on May 29. In the statement, he declared a wealth of Tk 46.29 lakh under his name and Tk 64.12 lakh in his wife's name.
The information concealed in the wealth statement includes a flat bought at Tk 13.62 lakh and Tk 11,634 in cash in Fakirapul branch of Rupali Bank, both in his wife's name.
Quader also showed lower price in the statement regarding purchase of a flat at Segun Bagicha. He also showed different sources of income of which the ACC found no evidence. His wealth statement showed his sources of income include money received from relatives and friends, property in the name of his mother and honorarium from newspapers for writing columns and royalty on a book.
The joint forces arrested Quader on March 9, He was on the second list of graft suspects published by the ACC.
An anti-graft court on September 25 sentenced Ishratunnesa to eight years' in jail in a tax evasion case. Quader was also convicted and sentenced in a tax evasion case filed by the National Board of Revenue, which the High Court stayed after he challenged it in the same court.
CASE AGAINST SARWAR
After scrutinising the case docket and other relevant documents, Judge Mohammad Azizul Haque of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court ordered the arrest warrants against Sarwar Hossain and his wife.
The order for arrest warrants against the couple came following plea submitted by the IO, as they have been absconding since the case was filed.
On April 16, IO ACC Deputy Assistant Director Mahmud Hassan submitted the charge sheet against them to the CMM's Court, showing 23 people as prosecution witnesses.
The IO prayed for issuance of arrest warrants against the couple and the order to attach their properties, as they has been absconding since the case was filed against them.
The ACC filed the case against them with Gulshan police for committing the offences on January 10 this year.
In the first information report (FIR), the complainant said Sarwar was accused of accumulating illegal wealth worth Tk 1.50 crore while his wife was accused of abetting his husband in acquiring the assets.