ACC charges ex-minister Saifuzzaman over bribery

Staff Reporter :

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and 10 others, accusing them of taking Tk52 crore in bribes, fraud, abuse of power, and laundering the money abroad.
ACC Deputy Director Akhtarul Islam confirmed the development to The media on Thursday, citing the case statement filed by ACC Assistant Director Md Sajib Ahmed. According to the ACC, the accused colluded to intimidate Abdul Kadir Molla, managing director of Thermex Group and a client of UCBL’s Principal Branch in Dhaka, into paying Tk52 crore in bribes.
The funds were then allegedly transferred, laundered, and siphoned overseas.

The Accused
Along with Saifuzzaman, the case names:
Rukmila Zaman, former UCB chairperson and wife of Saifuzzaman ,Syed Kamruzzaman, former director, UCB PLC ,Utpal Pal, assistant general manager, Aramit PLC ,Md Abdul Aziz, proprietor of Imperial Trading & AGM, Aramit PLC ,Md Jahangir Alam, proprietor of Classic Trading & AGM, Aramit PLC ,Md Misbahul Alam, proprietor of Model Trading & administrative officer, Aramit PLC , Md Farid Uddin, proprietor of Radius Trading ,Md Zahid, proprietor of Lucent Trading ,Nur Mohammad ,Md Yasinur Rahman.

The ACC alleges that through fraud and coercion, the accused abused their authority to extract illicit payments and then laundered the funds abroad for personal gain.

The case marks one of the most high-profile graft charges brought by the anti-graft watchdog this year, targeting a former cabinet member and prominent banking and corporate figures.