ACC to give Tk 1.3cr to PM's assistant

The Anti-Corruption Commission has decided to reward prime minister's special assistant Ferdous Ahmed Khan with Tk1.3 crore for his contribution in recovering Tk13.6 crore, which was siphoned off to Singapore by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's younger son Arafat Rahman Koko and his associate.
The ACC on November 22 last year had brought back the amount from Singapore and it was received at ACC's Stolen Asset Recovery Account with the Sonali Bank's corporate branch in the capital.
The amount was deposited in Singapore by Koko and Ismail Hossain Saimon, son of  former BNP minister late Akbar Hossain, immediate past ACC Chairman Ghulam Rahman told newsmen on the day at his office.
Incumbent ACC Chairman Mohammad Badiuzzaman yesterday said, “Ferdous had contributed to the recovery of the money and for that, we have decided to reward him with an amount which might not be exceeding 10 percent of the recovered amount.”
“We have written to the finance ministry seeking its permission in this regard. Once we get the permission, we will disburse the amount immediately," he added.
Contacted, a high official at the finance ministry said they had received the ACC's letter and will take action by Sunday.
According to the ACC letter sent on July 7, the anti-graft body had appointed Octokhan, a chartered accountancy firm, to help bring back the money from Singapore.
Ferdous, a representative of Octokhan, helped in bringing back the amount and as per the deal. So he needed to be paid off 10 percent of the total amount.
ACC Deputy Director Abu Syeed on March 17, 2009 had sued Koko and Saimon for siphoning off more than Tk20 crore -- Singapore $28,84,603.15 and US $9,32,672.81.
Trying the two in absentia, a Dhaka court on June 23 last year had sentenced Koko and Saimon to six years' rigorous imprisonment each and fined them around Tk39 crore.
Koko had received the amount from the business firm Siemens and Habibur Rahman, a Bangladeshi living in Dubai, Syeed told The Daily Star over the phone yesterday.
The anti-graft body has recovered the amount that Habibur had sent to Fairhill Consulting's account with Singapore Overseas Bank from the Janata Bank's Dubai branch between 2004 and 2007.
An ACC probe had found Koko to be the owner of Fairhill.