Retired army officer, family charged for possessing illegal wealth
The Anti-Corruption Commission approved a charge sheet against colonel (retd) Shahid Uddin Chowdhury along with his wife and two daughters for amassing approximately Tk 39.73 crore beyond the known source of income.
On April 28, 2022, the ACC filed the graft case against Shahid, his wife Farzana Anjum Khan, and daughters Shetaz Munasi Khan and Parisa Pinaz Khan. They are currently living in the UK.
The investigators have found proof of graft against the accused during the investigation, and so the charge sheet was approved, said Secretary Mahbub Hossain while talking to reporters in front of the ACC office in Segunbagicha yesterday.
According to the probe report, Shahid Uddin joined the army in 1983 and retired in 2010. The ACC had previously requested that the accused submit a wealth statement, but they had not.
On January 24, 2021, the ACC filed a case against him for not submitting a wealth statement.
During the investigation, the ACC found that Shahid bought a flat in Baridhara DOHS for Tk 73.4 lakh. However, no legal source of income was found for this expenditure.
The anti-graft watchdog found Tk 2.1 crore in Shahid's name, Tk 26 crore in the family members' names, Tk 4.24 crore in Farzana and his name, Tk 4.59 crore in Farzana's name, Tk 1.65 crore in Shehtaz's name, and Tk 40.97 lakh in Parisa's name.
After analysing his income tax report, the ACC found no mention of net wealth. In the 2017-18 tax report, Shahid could not give any plausible explanation of the source of his salary.
On December 20, 2020, a Dhaka court sentenced Shahid to nine years in prison in a tax evasion case.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) filed the case with Dhaka's Senior Special Judge's Court against the accused for evading Tk 15 lakh in income tax between the 2015 and 2018 fiscal years.
He was also sentenced to life imprisonment in an arms case.
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