Shajahan Siraj gets 13 years for illegal wealth

A special court yesterday sentenced BNP leader and former minister Shajahan Siraj to 13 years' imprisonment for amassing assets illegally and concealing wealth information from Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
It also fined him Tk 10 lakh. In the event of a default in payment, he will have to serve another year in jail.
His wife Rabeya Siraj was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and fined Tk 5 lakh for aiding and abetting him in the offence. For failing to pay the sum she will have to be in jail for six more months.
The couple, who have been in hiding since the present military-backed caretaker government launched the anti-graft drive last year, were tried in absentia.
Handing down the verdict, Judge Kamaluzzaman of Special Court-9 also ordered the government to confiscate wealth worth around Tk 3.75 crore, which is disproportionate to their known sources of income.
Of the jail terms Shajahan copped, 10 years' rigorous imprisonment was given for earning illegal income and three years' simple imprisonment for holding back information in the wealth statement to the ACC.
Shajahan, former jute and textile minister, will have to serve out his terms consecutively meaning he will have to be in jail for 13 years.
The court, set up in the MP Hostel in Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex, said the sentences would take effect from the date of their arrest or surrender.
ACC Assistant Director Khairul Huda filed the case against Shajahan Siraj and his wife on September 24 last year for concealing information about property worth around Tk 4 lakh.
Shajahan, who also held the forest and environment portfolio as a member of Khaleda Zia's cabinet, was among the high-profile corruption suspects ordered by the anti-graft body to turn in wealth accounts.
He and his wife submitted their statements through representatives.
Earlier, Shajahan Siraj was awarded eight years' imprisonment in a tax evasion case filed by National Board of Revenue (NBR). His wife and son Rajib Siraj were sentenced to 40 years in prison in five separate cases filed by the NBR.