Tk 2,000cr laundering case: Key suspects cleared of wrongdoing

As members of a powerful syndicate, they allegedly manipulated tenders left and right and took cuts from numerous contracts across government offices in Faridpur.

Led by former minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain's brother Khandaker Mohtesam Hossain Babar, now behind bars, they "pocketed big money" during the first two terms of the Awami League government.

Their roles in the syndicate came up prominently in separate confessional statements in a high-profile case over the laundering of Tk 2,000 crore since Mosharraf became a minister in 2008.

Yet six of them were excluded from the charge sheet as the Criminal Investigation Department, which investigated the case, did not find "sufficient evidence" to charge them.

CID officials said some accused in their confessional statements mentioned these names, but the investigators did not fall for it.

The charge sheet submitted in March last year caused quite a stir in the police department and also among the local politicians who had long known about the "aggressive" tender manipulation by this syndicate.

Local police and intelligence sources said these syndicate members exercised absolute power during their heyday to control who gets to bid for government tenders and how the proceeds are shared.

Two superintendents of police and an additional SP told The Daily Star that they suspect some of these syndicate members were let off the hook in exchange for money. All three officials had direct knowledge of the investigation.

Mahbubur Rahman, who was the CID chief at the time of the charge sheet submission, however, denied that his officers took bribes from any suspects to give them a clean chit.

Irked by the "flawed" investigation, a Dhaka court on September 1 ordered the CID to further probe the case and resubmit the charge sheet in full compliance with the law.

The court order came after the prosecution filed for further investigation. The prosecution argued that investigators excluded six names unlawfully, even though two of them had admitted to their involvement with the syndicate before magistrates.

"An investigating agency has no mandate to drop names of the accused who made confessional statements. Neither can they exclude the names that came up in more than one confessional statements by other accused," the prosecution filing reads.

The prosecution also alleged that the CID did not follow the due process of the law to submit the charge sheet. For example, the charge sheet cites no specific information or evidence as to where and how the money was laundered, a prosecution lawyer said after the September 1 hearing on charge framing.

On multiple occasions, the charge sheet mentions the same piece of land as evidence of land ownership of different accused.

THE SIX EXCLUDED

The CID pressed charges against 10 among the 52 people named in confessional statements of the accused as fellow syndicate members or associates.

Over the last three months, The Daily Star went through the case documents, the confessional statements and intelligence reports, and spoke with dozens of locals to track down the properties of some of these syndicate members.

The newspaper found at least six of them made financial gains through the manipulation of tenders worth thousands of crores of taka during the tenure of Mosharraf, yet they were not named in the charge sheet. 

These six are local AL leader Billal Hossain, Kanaipur Union Chairman Belayet Hossain, Gopalpur Union Chairman Shahidul Islam Majnu, former Faridpur BCL general secretary Saiful Islam Jibon, former Faridpur BCL president Nishan Mahmud Shamim, and Siddiqur Rahman Sheikh, known as one of the syndicate kingpins.

The Daily Star has seen a seven-page report of an intelligence agency detailing the wealth some of them have amassed over the last several years.

According to the report, Billal owns at least two buildings, 70 bighas of land, one brick kiln and four shops in two markets in the district town. He also has two flats in Dhaka's Dhanmondi and Mohammadpur. He could not be reached for comments.

Belayet owns a duplex in Harokandi area, one flat at Moitree Tower, eight shops and 15 decimals of land in the district town. He also owns 47 bighas of land in Faridpur, a microbus and a flat in Dhaka's Mohammadpur, the report said.

Belayet refuted that he made any money illegally.

Majnu owns a three-storey building in Faridpur town, four shops, a share in a brickfield and 8.5 bighas of land that he amassed between 2012 and 2019. He could not be contacted for comments.

Jibon has a major share in the seven-storey Ma o Shishu hospital in the district town and two shops in Faridpur New Market. He also has three acres of land beside Bhanga highway, two houses and 45 decimals of land in the town and a flat in Dhaka's Mirpur, according to the intelligence report.

He could not be reached for comments and locals said he went into hiding recently.

The Daily Star visited some of these properties and spoke with dozens of locals, who independently confirmed that they belong to the syndicate members.

Billal Hossain was an assistant of Babar two decades ago. He quickly gained the confidence of Babar, who started controlling the district's tender business after his brother Khandaker Mosharraf became a minister.

Billal went on to become an AL leader of Kotwali thana unit and a member of the syndicate.

His involvement with the syndicate came up in the confessional statements of three accused. Documents show that after his arrest, Billal himself confessed to winning three contracts.

He could not be reached for comments. Mizanur Rahman, a member of his office staff, said he does not use a mobile phone at the moment.

Nishan also could not be contacted by this newspaper.

The Daily Star investigation found he used to lead attacks against rivals as per the instructions of the syndicate bosses. He also confessed to having received money from some of the bosses.              

Siddique was arrested in an extortion case unrelated to the money laundering case in December last year, when he admitted to his involvement with the syndicate, sources said.

After his release on bail about one and a half months back, he told The Daily Star that the allegations against him were not true and that all his assets were declared in his tax file.

None of the six is in jail or under arrest.

THE CASE AND 'CONFESSION'

The CID filed the case with Kafrul Police Station in June 2020 against Faridpur AL leader Sajjad Hossain Barkat and his brother Imtiaz Hasan Rubel over laundering Tk 2,000 crore amassed through tender manipulation, drug smuggling, land grabbing and extortion. 

Babar, Barkat, Rubel and several other local AL and BCL leaders were arrested in the case.

Barkat, Rubel, Billal, Nishan, Khandakar Nazmul Islam Levi, former president of Faridpur town Jubo League, and Ashiqur Rahman Farhan, general secretary of Faridpur town unit Jubo League, made confessional statements before magistrates.

After about nine months of investigation, the then Investigation Officer Uttam Kumar Biswas, an assistant superintendent of police of CID, submitted the charge sheet against 10 people in March last year.

They are Barkat, Rubel, Babar, Khandaker Mosharraf's former APS AHM Fuad, Levi, Farhan, General Secretary of Faridpur District Swechchhasebak League Fahad bin Wazed alias Fahim, former joint convener of Faridpur town Jubo League Kamrul Hasan David, district Jubo League Joint Convener Mohammad Ali Minar, and Faridpur town Jubo League Joint Convener Tariqul Islam alias Nasim.

In his confessional statement, Barkat told the magistrate that after Khandaker Mosharraf became a minister in 2008, Babar and Siddiqur Rahman Sheikh started controlling tenders of Tepakhola cattle market, C&B Ghat and Faridpur Medical College.

After Mosharraf became minister again in 2014, Fuad, Babar and Billal started controlling tenders of almost all government offices, Tepakhola cattle market, C&B Ghat and the Medical College Hospital.

"I won contracts of LGED one after another through Babar Chacha (uncle) and Billal. I used to give them 5 to 10 percent cuts," reads the statement.

Barkat disclosed the names of 35 persons including Jibon, Belayet and Majnu as members and associates of the syndicate, led by Siddique.

Billal in his statement admitted to his involvement with the syndicate and said he won three tenders, giving Siddique two percent commission for each.

Rubel's statement was largely identical to those of Barkat and Billal.

According to his claim in the confessional statement, he gave Siddique Tk 1 crore in cuts after he won contracts for the construction of two mosques.

Rubel also said he won several contracts from LGED, and he gave five to seven percent commission to Siddique, Billal, Babar, Majnu, Belayet, and several others.

Levy and Farhan also named Siddique as the leader of the syndicate, which allegedly threatened any potential bidders from participating in the tender.

'INSUFFICIENT' EVIDENCE

While submitting the charge sheet, CID official Uttam Kumar Biswas told the court that a supplementary charge sheet will be placed if any new evidence emerged against any other suspects.

Uttam is now posted in Rab. Since his transfer to the elite force soon after he submitted the charge sheet, CID authorities did not appoint a new investigating officer.

He declined to comment on why he cleared the six.

"We have submitted the charge sheet against 10 people as we found sufficient evidence against them," said former CID chief Mahbubur Rahman.

Asked how they are investigating without an IO, he said CID's Anti-Money Laundering unit was handling it.

Mahbubur, who retired last month, dismissed the allegations that CID officials were bought off to clear some names.

"The CID official who supervised the investigation is an honest officer, and there is no question of taking bribes," he said.

[Our Faridpur Correspondent Suzit Kumar Das contributed to this report]