The High Court on Sunday ordered the Bangladesh Bank governor to unfreeze six bank accounts of Global Shoes, a company linked to former National Board of Revenue鈥檚 Appellate Tribunal member Matiur Rahman and his family.
The vacation bench of Justice Mohammad Ullah and Justice Kazi Ebadoth Hossain issued the directive, staying a July 11 order from Dhaka metropolitan senior special judge Mohammad Jaglul Hossain, which had frozen 116 bank accounts, including those of Global Shoes, as well as 23 beneficiary owner accounts.
Several properties belonging to Matiur Rahman and his family were also seized in connection with allegations of money laundering.
The accounts were frozen after the Anti-Corruption Commission filed an application with a the lower court, accusing Matiur of amassing illegal wealth worth hundreds of crores of taka and laundering money abroad through hundi, under-invoicing, and over-invoicing via company accounts.
Global Shoes chairman Md Tafazzal Hossain Forhad filed a petition with the High Court challenging the legality of the freezing order, prompting the High Court to stay the lower court鈥檚 decision regarding the company鈥檚 accounts.
Additional attorney general Aneek R Haque stated that the government would appeal against the High Court鈥檚 unfreezing order, citing the controversy surrounding Matiur鈥檚 wealth, which surfaced after his son Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat posted a photo on social media of a sacrificial goat allegedly purchased for Tk 12 lakh.
Following the public uproar, Matiur Rahman was transferred to the Internal Resources Division of the finance ministry and later dismissed from his position.
Appearing for Global Shoes, Supreme Court Bar Association president AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, also a leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, argued that Matiur Rahman and his family were no longer connected to the company.
Khokon noted that Matiur鈥檚 wife, Layla Kaniz, and their children, Ahmed Tawfiqur Rahman and Farzana Rahman Epshita, had resigned from their positions in June 2024.
Tawfiqur had served as the company鈥檚 managing director, while Epshita and Layla were directors. Additionally, Matiur鈥檚 brother, MA Kayum Howlader, had resigned as director on July 8, 2018.
Khokon emphasised that Global Shoes, an export-oriented company with 1,047 workers, was struggling to pay its employees鈥� Tk 1 crore monthly salary due to the frozen accounts.
