Ziaul Haq Zia, Dipjol jailed for 8 years

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Special Courts yesterday sentenced two fugitive corruption suspects — Ziaul Haq Zia, former BNP state minister, and Monwar Hossain Dipjol, film actor and a ward commissioner of Dhaka City Corporation from the same party — to eight years’ imprisonment each for tax evasion.

The courts set up on the premises of MP Hostel of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban also fined Zia Tk 2 crore and Dipjol Tk 3.5 crore. In default of which, Zia would have to serve an additional one and a half years in prison while Dipjol would have to serve another six months.

Both the courts also ordered confiscation of Zia and Dipjol’s properties and ordered the convicts to pay back the amount of tax they had concealed in their tax returns.

ZIA CASE
Fourth Special Court of Judge Shamsunnahar delivered the verdict against Zia, former state minister for LGRD, under sections 165 and 166 of Income Tax Ordinance, 1984.

Zia was handed down three years’ imprisonment for providing false information and five years for concealing information in his tax returns. Zia would have to serve total eight years in prison since the Court ordered both sentences to be effective consecutively from the day of Zia’s arrest or surrender.

Zia concealed Tk 4.24 crore worth of properties and Tk 99.41 lakh in income tax in his tax returns submitted in different tax years from 2002-’03 to 2006-’07.

The properties of Zia the court ordered to confiscate are two houses in his village home Laxmipur, 5,000 shares of Tk 100 denomination each of Royal CNG Station in Tejgaon, two firearms, all furniture in his Banani residence and a Lexus automobile.

Farzana Sultana, deputy commissioner of National Board of Revenue (NBR), filed the case against Zia on September 29 while charges were framed against him on October 22. A total of 12 witnesses gave their deposition in the case.

DIPJOL CASE
Dipjol was handed down three years’ imprisonment under section 165 of Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 for giving false information while five years under section 166 of the same ordinance for concealing information in his tax returns submitted to NBR.

Judge AK Roy of the Second Special Court delivered the verdict against Dipjol.

Dipjol would have to serve a maximum of five years in prison from the day of his arrest or surrender as the court ordered that the sentences would be effective concurrently.

Deputy Tax Commissioner of NBR Muhtasibur Rahman filed the case against Dipjol on September 18 accusing him of concealing information about properties worth Tk 11.43 crore and evading Tk 3.17 crore in taxes in his tax returns submitted to NBR in the years from 1988-’89 to 2006-’07.

Charges were framed against him on October 18. A total of 61 witnesses gave their depositions in the case.

The court ordered to confiscate 200 tolas of gold belonging to Dipjol. The court also ordered him to pay the money that he concealed in his tax returns. Those are Tk 4 crore that he received from Dipnagar of Gabtoli, Tk 93 lakh that he concealed from the price of a car he had purchased, Tk 1 crore of investment that he concealed from the construction expense of a shooting spot at Phulbaria in Savar and Tk 2.5 crore that he had earned from performing in or producing 22 movies.

Dipjol was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment on July 26 for possession of illegal firearms while on August 20 another Court sentenced him and his wife to seven years’ imprisonment each in connection with another arms case.

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