The Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court on Thursday ordered the seizure of the assets, including four flats and over 1,000 decimals of land, of National Board of Revenue official Matiur Rahman, his two wives, and his children, to facilitate a proper inquiry against him.
Judge Mohammed As-Shams Jaglul Hossain passed the order following a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission deputy director, Md Anwar Hossain, seeking the confiscation of the wealth, said ACC public prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir.
The assets seized by the court include 114 decimal lands of Matiur at Muladi upazila in Barishal and 522.52 decimal lands in the name of his first wife, Layla Kaniz, in Narsingdi.
The court also seized huge immovable assets, including the lands and apartments of Matiur and his family members, who were facing allegations of amassing illegal wealth and money laundering.
They include 275.875 decimal lands in the name of Matiur鈥檚 son with his first wife, Ahmed Tawfiquer Rahman Arnab.聽
A total of 106.56 decimals of land belonging to his daughter, Farzana Rahman Ipsita, were also seized.聽
During the inquiry, ACC also found a multi-storey building on five katha land on Road No. 1, Block D, Bashundhara residential area in Dhaka in the name of Matiur鈥檚 daughter Ipsita.
ACC also found a flat in the name of Matiur鈥檚 second wife, Shammi Akhtar Shivli, at Jigatola in the capital鈥檚 Dhanmondi, while she also owned a plot of five katha lands at Block-N in the Bashundhara area.
It also found a flat of 2,540 square feet in the name of Matiur鈥檚 first wife, Layla Kaniz, on Road-7/A, Block-D, in the Bashundhara residential area of Dhaka.
On June 25, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit asked all banks and non-banking financial institutions to freeze all accounts of Matiur and his family members.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission also blocked 16 BO [beneficiary owner] accounts of Matiur and his family.
Matiur was president of NBR鈥檚 Customs, Excise, and VAT Appellate Tribunal before he was removed from the position by the finance ministry on June 23 following the goat scandal involving his son that brought his assets under public scrutiny.
The NBR official is now facing an inquiry by the ACC for the fifth time in the past two decades.
In 2004, the ACC launched the first inquiry against Matiur, while it conducted three more inquiries in 2008, 2013, and 2021 without any breakthrough.
On June 4, this year, the ACC, in its meeting, decided to launch a fresh inquiry into the corruption allegations brought against him and his family members.
A Dhaka court on June 24 imposed a travel ban on Matiur, his first wife Layla Kaniz, and their son Ahmed Arnob, accepting a plea from the ACC.
On June 30, Matiur鈥檚 first wife, Layla Kaniz, also chairman of Raipura upazila parishad in Narsingdi, submitted a petition to the court seeking the withdrawal of the ban. The court set July 28 for holding a hearing on the petition.
Matiur was exposed to public scrutiny after a video of his second wife鈥檚 son, Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat, buying a goat for Tk 12 lakh went viral on social media ahead of the Muslim festival Eid-al-Adha last month.
He initially denied Ifat was his son, but the media confirmed their relationship by speaking to his relatives.
Speaking to a television channel, Matiur denied any wrongdoing and claimed that ACC gave him clean chits four times in the past.
