Staff Reporter:
The court has ordered the seizure of 923 bighas of land in Bandarban in the name of former local government minister Tajul Islam’s wife, Fauzia Islam. It has also ordered the freezing of Tk 461,77,215 deposited in her 12 bank accounts and 14 shares.
On Tuesday (April 15), the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md. Zakir Hossain Galib issued the order in response to an application by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The court has also ordered the seizure of a flat in Gulshan belonging to Fauzia Islam and one-third of a four-storey house in Halishahar, Chittagong.
The application filed by ACC Deputy Director Abu Mohammad Anwarul Masud stated that Fauzia Islam has acquired property worth Tk 690,204 in a manner inconsistent with her legitimate source of income. It is alleged that her husband Tajul Islam helped purchase these assets in his wife’s name with ill-gotten money. In addition, it is claimed that 139.3 million taka and 131.8 million taka were suspiciously deposited in 11 bank accounts of Fauzia Islam and 131.1 million taka were withdrawn, which is a total of 271.95 million taka transactions in an attempt to hide the source of income.
Section 27(1) of the ACC Act, 2004, Sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2012 and Section 109 of the Penal Code have been applied in this case. During the investigation, information about the money deposited in Fauzia Islam’s bank accounts was found and it was feared that she could transfer this money elsewhere. Therefore, she applied to the court that it was necessary to seize and freeze her assets for the sake of a fair investigation of the case.
Earlier, on April 13, an order was issued to seize 28 bighas of land, two commercial spaces, a flat and a shop in the name of Tajul Islam located in three districts. In addition, 20 crore 56 lakh 1 thousand 237 deposited in 34 bank accounts in his own name and the name of related organizations were blocked. In addition, an order was issued to block his shares worth 5 crore 23 lakh 1 thousand 230 in 16 companies and three cars worth 2 crore 60 lakh 45 thousand 841.
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