Bangladesh News

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday filed a case against former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s younger son Arafat Rahman Koko for concealing information about his wealth and amassing wealth through illegal means.

It filed a similar case against detained former health minister and Awami League (AL) leader Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim.

Abu Sayeed, deputy director of ACC, filed the case against Koko with Ramna Police Station under Sections 26 (2) and 27 (1) of ACC Act 2004.

In the case, the ACC accused Koko of concealing information about Tk 11,20,145 worth of properties and illegally amassing wealth worth Tk 2,23,18,245 — that is disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Koko and his mother were detained on September 2 last year in a late night joint forces raid. Earlier, on August 29, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) asked all banks to freeze the accounts of Koko, his mother and nine others of the family.

This is the third time Koko is being accused in a case filed by the ACC. He is the prime accused in a Tk 1.20-crore extortion case and a co-accused in the Gatco graft case.

ACC Deputy Director Abu Sayeed in his case statement mentioned that Koko in his January 9, 2008 wealth statement submitted to the ACC through jail authorities declared Tk 8,08,37,481 worth of movable and immovable properties under his wife, Sayeda Shamila Tabassum, their two daughters and his own name. However, the ACC during its investigation detected that the properties belonging to the Koko family are worth more than the declared figure.

The ACC investigators also found that Koko concealed information about the registration fee he paid for a flat he had purchased at Banani in Dhaka, the loans he received from different banks, and remuneration and other benefits he received from different businesses.

Koko also concealed information about 500 shares (Tk 100 each) he has in a business firm named Hasanco Aviation Ltd and two bank savings certificates (Tk 1 lakh each) under his wife’s name.

The ACC conducted its investigation based on documents collected from different government and private institutions including banks, the NBR and different sub-registry offices of the land department.

Koko’s wife’s Tk 1.50 crore investment in a business and Koko’s overseas travel expenses for 84 trips between September 2003 and December 2006 did not match the couple’s recognised sources of income.

The investigators of the ACC found that out of the total Tk 7,85,53,556 worth of wealth amassed by Koko and his wife, Tk 2,23,18,245 worth of wealth was made illegally, said the case statement.

SELIM SUED BY ACC
The ACC yesterday filed a case against former health minister and AL leader Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim for concealing wealth information and amassing wealth illegally.

ACC Deputy Director Abdul Karim filed the case with Ramna police station under 26 (2), 27 (1) of ACC Act 2004 and 15 (Gha) of Emergency Power Rules.

The complainant in the case statement said Selim concealed information of wealth worth over Tk 22.39 lakh in his wealth statement submitted to the ACC and amassed wealth worth over Tk 3.38 crore — that is beyond his known sources of income.

Selim submitted his wealth statement on July 22, 2007, declaring Tk 5,13,98,000 worth of wealth under his name.