BangladeshÂ’s anti-corruption agency filed charges Wednesday against the former prime ministerÂ’s son, his wife and mother-in-law accusing them of acquiring their wealth illegally, an official said. The Anti-Corruption Commission charged Tareque Rahman, the businessman son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, with amassing 48 million takas (US$711,530) in assets that did not tally with his legally declared income. RahmanÂ’s physician wife, Zubaida, and her mother, Syeda Iqbalmand Banu, were accused of aiding him, commission official Zahurul Huda said after filing the corruption case at a police station in the capital, Dhaka.
Rahman is already being detained on separate criminal charges, while his wife and mother-in-law are yet to be arrested. They face stiff jail terms and fines if convicted. Zia and another son, Arafat Rahman, are in jail pending trial on graft charges. Security forces in recent months have arrested more than 150 high-profile corruption suspects - including politicians, bureaucrats and businesspeople - in a crackdown by the countryÂ’s military-backed interim government.
The suspects, including another ex-prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, face charges ranging from graft and extortion to tax evasion and becoming rich through abuse of power. The interim government has vowed to fight corruption, reform electoral rules and clean up the nationÂ’s factional and often violent politics before holding the next elections in 2008.