| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Bangladesh | |
| Ex-BNP MP Ibrahim sued for money laundering | |
| 2011-08-17 | |
[Bangla Daily Star] The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sued former BNP politician Hafiz Ibrahim and his wife on Tuesday for laundering $1.75 lakh.
The first information report stated that the couple accepted and withdrew the money between 2005 and 2006 using a joint account opened at a Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) branch in Singapore. Although an ACC enquiry has traced transactions of over $8 lakh in the account between 2005 and 2008, primary information proved that $1.75 lakh of the amount was deposited as bribe for abetting Siemens get the BTCL job, which was required to establish the state-owned Teletalk mobile company. "A prerequisite for bringing money laundering charges is that the laundered money has to be earned through an offence or by illegal means," said ACC Deputy Director Golam Shahriar Chowdhury, who filed the case with Gulshan Police Station Tuesday afternoon. In his wealth statement submitted to the commission, the BNP leader did not mention the account. "We have enough logistic to believe that the entire transaction was illegal. Primary enquiry confirmed only a part of it. A full-fledged investigation would reveal how the rest of the amount was realised," said the ACC official. According to the complaint, Siemens local consultant Zulfikar Ali paid the kickback after Hafiz and his wife opened a joint account with SCB branch at Battery Road in Singapore on December 19, 2005. Of the bribe, $1 lakh was paid on the day the account was opened while the rest was deposited on July 25, 2006. Zulfikar Ali, a local consultant of Siemens, opened an account with the same SCB branch following official order from the company, says the case statement. Different Siemens offices deposited money in the account to bribe collaborators of the company and pay its consultants. Different persons were bribed using the account and Hafiz was paid as part of the bigger underground transaction network. Since Hafiz and his wife were not consultants of the company, they did not have any reason to receive money from the company. Referring to the conviction of Siemens for bribery by Columbia district court in USA, the case statement added that Siemens Bangladesh Ltd confessed before the court of using Zulfikar Ali's account to bribe different influential government officials and politicians in Bangladesh. A total of $4.70 lakh was deposited in seven phases by November 27, 2006 since opening of the account, the case statement reported. On January 16, 2008, another amount of $3.39 lakh was transferred to the account from separate accounts of Hafiz and his wife with the same bank. On several different occasions, the couple bought bonds using bribe money from the account and re-deposited $3.30 lakh. "Filing of money laundering case is more convenient than merely bringing charges of bribery against an individual. The laundered money can be repatriated through court order once the charge is proved," said Shahriar Chowdhury. | |
| Posted by:Fred |