Bangladesh News

Jamuna Group chief Nurul Islam Babul and Sonali Bank CBA leader BM Bakir Hossain, who are on the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) list of 50 persons, submitted their wealth statements on the second day of the 72-hour deadline yesterday.

In addition, Prof Borhanuddin Khan Jahangir submitted the wealth statement on behalf of his arrested brother Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, also Awami League (AL) leader and former state minister.

Considering weekly holidays on Friday and Saturday, the ACC’s 72-hour deadline for submitting wealth statement expires Sunday evening.

Sources said the government will initiate the process from Monday to seize, attach or freeze moveable and immovable properties of those who will fail to submit their wealth statements by seeking permission from magistrates.

Babul and Bakir submitted their statements in person and both were arrested while leaving the ACC.

But following Bakir’s arrest in public, his whereabouts became lost in mystery with the law enforcement authorities claiming that Bakir was not with them and some saying he had fled.

Meanwhile, the ACC could not learn about the arrest status of Giasuddin Al Mamun.

As of yesterday, Mamun remained unofficially arrested while his whereabouts remained undisclosed.

The ACC yesterday confirmed that Mamun’s wife had received on Tuesday night the ACC notice for submitting his wealth statement.

Chowdhury Alam, whose name is also on the ACC list, meanwhile sought time for submitting his wealth statement, saying it will take time to gather the information as the joint forces seized various documents from his house.

The ACC officials, however, said they do not have the authority to allow someone extra time.

Representatives of AL leaders and former lawmakers Abul Hasnat Abdullah, Mokbul Hossain and Akhteruzzaman Chowdhury Babu visited the ACC and said they can submit the wealth statements on behalf of the leaders who are abroad, or else it has to wait until the leaders come back.

ACC Secretary Delwar Hossain told reporters that the commission will later take decision about those who are abroad at present.

STATEMENTS OF BABUL AND BAKIR
According to Nurul Islam Babul’s statement, the total value of the properties of his family stands at Tk 170.77 crore.

Babul himself has shown assets worth Tk 73.88 crore, majority of which comes from business investments. His wife owns assets worth Tk 44.88 crore, with majority coming from company shares and investments. His son Shamim Islam possesses assets worth Tk 43 crore and his daughters the rest.

BM Bakir Hossain and his wife’s statements put the total value of their combined wealth at Tk 1.20 crore.

Sources said both the statements are highly confusing and erroneous.

Bakir showed a 3 katha land at Dakkhin Khan valued at Tk 53,000, savings certificate worth Tk 5 lakh, DPS of Tk 2.70 lakh, Alico premium deposit of Tk 1.29 lakh, and various household items. He also showed his family maintenance and other expenses at Tk 9.76 lakh on the column for assets.

Bakir’s statement mentions a “source of fund” from where he received Tk 49.41 lakh as foreign remittance from a relative. Again he states that he has paid back the remitter Tk 30 lakh and paid one Shaikh Nasir Uddin another Tk 15 lakh. He also has a house-building loan of Tk 17 lakh from a bank.

The Sonali Bank CBA leader also declared that the joint forces raided his house on February 3 night and seized Tk 2,87,000 “saved by my daughters over a long period”.

Bakir’s wife Nazma Hossain showed ownership of half of a six-storey building at Malibagh valued at Tk 32.25 lakh and a car worth Tk 12.5 lakh, advance deposit of Tk 39.27 lakh against flat at Bashundhara, and some other smaller assets.

Like her husband, she also showed Tk 57.96 lakh in foreign remittance from relatives as a source of fund. A car loan of Tk 6 lakh, house-building loan of Tk 12.5 lakh and other kinds of loans were also shown as her sources of fund.

Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir himself wrote his wealth statement in jail and the jailer attested it. But the copy of the hand-written statement was quite unintelligible.

Some parts of the statement say Mohiuddin has purchased 10 or 12 acres of land in his village and these were mostly given to schools, mosques or orphanages by his father.

Mohiuddin has a house in Banani on a 4.25 katha plot, which he purchased for Tk 1 lakh in instalments from 1976 to 1979. He has 7 or 8 katha land along with a one-storey building in Comilla and he has 1 bigha land in Ashulia of Savar purchased in 1962. He said he has savings/deposit certificate worth Tk 90 lakh.