Former aides of ex-minister Saifuzzaman have been detained and taken into custody for allegations of money laundering.
In a significant development, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has expanded its investigation into the financial dealings of former Awami League lawmaker Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed. The ACC has placed two of his close aides, Md Abdul Aziz and Utpal Pal, on a five-day remand.
The allegations against the accused include their alleged involvement in a network that laundered thousands of crores of taka abroad. Utpal Pal, who served as an assistant general manager (AGM) of Aramit PLC and as the former minister's personal aide, is said to have managed Chowdhury's overseas properties and overseen fund transfers from Bangladesh to Dubai, and later to the UK and other destinations. Abdul Aziz, also an AGM of Aramit PLC, acted as a custodian of properties purchased under Chowdhury's name.
The ACC has filed a fresh case against Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and 10 others, alleging charges of receiving Tk52 crore in bribes, fraud, and abuse of power. According to ACC Deputy Director Akhtarul Islam, the accused colluded to commit fraud by intimidating Abdul Kadir Molla, the managing director of Thermex Group, into paying Tk52 crore as bribes.
The ACC has also filed a case against ex-minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed and 10 others over Tk52 crore bribery allegations, but no further details about this case are provided. The other defendants in the case filed today by the ACC against Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and 10 others are not publicly specified.
The accused in the new case include Saifuzzaman Chowdhury's wife, Rukmila Zaman, along with several executives from his business group. Allegations of Saifuzzaman Chowdhury amassing vast overseas wealth had surfaced ahead of the 2024 general election.
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, who served as state minister for land from 2014 to 2018 and as land minister from 2019 to 2023, reportedly fled to London with his family on 5 August last year, just before the fall of the Awami League government. Two laptops and two mobile phones, believed to contain crucial evidence of the laundering operations, were seized from the arrestees.
The two men, aged 39 and 51, were arrested by the ACC from the Double Mooring area of the port city on 17 September. They were produced before Chief Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Hasanul Islam and granted a five-day remand after a hearing.
The ACC has expanded its investigation into Saifuzzaman Chowdhury's assets to include new holdings in Malaysia, Thailand, and India. The money was then transferred and laundered abroad, as alleged by the ACC. Further investigations and hearings are expected to shed more light on this developing story.
