Wife of Mirza Abbas jailed for 16yrs

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Afroza Abbas, wife of detained former housing and public works minister Mirza Abbas, was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment yesterday in two tax evasion cases.

The second special court for dealing with graft charges also fined her Tk 4.92 crore in the cases.

Afroza Abbas, who was tried in absentia, would have to serve only five years in jail, as the verdict said that the sentences would run concurrently. She will, however, have to pay the full amount of the fine or serve one and a half years more in jail.

The court also ordered confiscation of her properties worth about Tk 4.60 crore to the state, which Afroza did not show in her tax returns in different years.

The court of Amar Kumar Roy set up at the MP hostel in Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex delivered the verdicts as the court found Afroza guilty of the charges after examining depositions of 12 witnesses and assessing evidence.

The sentences would take effect from the day of her surrender to the court or arrest, the court order said.

Each of the two cases against her under Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 was divided into two sections, one for concealing information about wealth on tax returns and the other for providing false information on the returns.

In each of the cases, she was sentenced to three years simple imprisonment for providing false information and to five years simple imprisonment for evading tax by concealing information.

Afroza was fined Tk 12 lakh and Tk 4.70 crore in the cases. She will have to serve additional six months and one year in jail in default of the fines.

Nurul Amin, deputy tax commissioner of Taxpayers’ Service Wing, filed the cases on August 5.

In the his complaints, Nurul Amin mentioned that Afroza had evaded Tk 11,58,746 income tax as one of the directors of Dhaka Bank since 1997 to 2002. She also evaded tax upon her income of Tk 4,67,95,634 for years from 2002 to 2007.

Charges were framed on August 21, while recording of the witnesses’ depositions began on August 23.

Earlier, Special Judge Mohammad Azizul Haq of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court issued arrest warrant twice against Afroza on August 5 and August 13.

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