ACC sues ex-state minister Russel, ex-MP Shah-e-Alam
The Dhaka metropolitan senior special judge court on Sunday ordered the freezing of shares worth Tk聽8,133 crore owned by S Alam Group chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam and his family members.
Dhaka metropolitan senior special judge Mohammad Zakir Hossain passed the order following a聽petition submitted by聽the Anti-Corruption Commission.
ACC deputy director Tahasin Munabil Haque submitted the petition through ACC public prosecutor Ruhul Islam Khan.
This is the third time the court has issued an order to freeze shares owned by Saiful Alam and his associates, with the total value now exceeding Tk聽16,000 crore.
The anti-graft agency is conducting a probe into allegations of money laundering against Saiful Alam and his family members who have allegedly transferred about $1 billion to different countries, including Singapore, the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus.
The ACC on Sunday also filed two separate cases against former state minister for youth and sports Md Zahid Ahsan Russel and former lawmaker Md Shah-E- Alam Talukdar on charges of amassing assets beyond their known sources of income.
The ACC in the petition told the court that Saiful Alam and his associates misappropriated large sums of money, including loans obtained by using false information from various banks.
The misappropriated funds are being laundered or converted into other assets by Saiful Alam and his family members, it said.
The court鈥檚 order includes the freezing of shares owned by Saiful Alam, his family members and 227 related companies and individuals.
Earlier, on February 12, the court ordered the freezing of shares valued at Tk聽5,109 crore owned by Saiful Alam and his family members in 42 companies.
On January 16, the court also ordered the freezing of over 32 million shares worth Tk聽3,000 crore controlled by Saiful Alam and his family members in 24 companies.
On January 14, the court ordered the confiscation of assets, including land, flats, plots and buildings in areas, including Gulshan, Dhanmondi and Uttara, valued at Tk聽200 crore owned by Saiful Alam and his family members. The court also froze 68 bank accounts linked to Saiful Alam and his family members.
Apart from these, the court on December 19, 2024, ordered the freezing of 125 bank accounts in Saiful Alam鈥檚 and his family members鈥� names.
On October 7, the court imposed a travel ban on Saiful Alam and 12 other family members, including his wife, children and brothers.
The ACC on Sunday filed a case against Zahid Ahsan Russel, also a former Awami League lawmaker from the Gazipur-2 constituency, on charges of amassing illegal assets worth Tk聽3.65 crore and suspicious transactions of Tk 17.50 crore in his five bank accounts.
The ACC also found assets worth Tk聽20.36 lakh of Russel鈥檚 wife Tahera Khadiza, which she amassed allegedly beyond known sources of income. The ACC issued a notice asking her to submit her wealth statement to the commission, said ACC director general Md Aktar Hossain at a press briefing in the capital Dhaka on Sunday.
The commission filed a case against former AL lawmaker from the Barisal-2 constituency Shah-E-Alam Talukdar on charges of amassing illegal wealth worth Tk 1.78 crore and suspicious transactions of Tk聽25.64 crore in his bank accounts.
The ACC also found evidence that Shah-e-Alam鈥檚 wife, Atiya Alam Mili, allegedly amassed illegal assets worth Tk聽55.75 lakh and it issued a notice to her for submitting wealth statement to the commission.