The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday pressed charges against detained former Awami League (AL) lawmaker AHM Mostafa Kamal, also known as Lotus Kamal, his wife Kashmiri Kamal and their two daughters in a graft case.
Meantime, a Dhaka court yesterday issued arrest warrants against the chairman of Orion Group, Obaidul Karim, and five former and incumbent high officials of Oriental Bank Limited in an embezzlement case.
Another Dhaka court will decide on September 9 whether charges will be framed against detained former housing and public works minister Mirza Abbas for keeping local and foreign currencies at his South Shahjahanpur residence.
LOTUS KAMAL CASE
The ACC's deputy directors Abu Sayed and Fayaz Alam -- also the investigation officers (IOs) in the case -- submitted the charge sheet to the court of Dhaka's chief metropolitan magistrate against Lotus Kamal and his family, showing 44 people as prosecution witnesses.
The prosecution appealed for arrest warrants against Lotus's two daughters -- Kashfi Kamal and Nafisa Kamal -- as they did not appear before the court for bail.
His wife Kashmiri earlier secured bail from the High Court (HC).
The case was filed against the Lotus Kamal family with Gulshan Police Station on March 22 this year for allegedly concealing Tk 2,99,55,658 in their February 25 wealth statements to the ACC.
OBAIDUL KARIM CASE
Judge Mohammad Azizul Haq at the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court, Dhaka issued the arrest warrants against Obaidul Karim and the five bankers after taking the embezzlement into cognisance.
Apart from Obaidul Karim, the other accused in the case are Oriental Bank's former senior vice-president Shah Mohammad Haroon, incumbent senior assistant vice-president AQ Mahmud Ullah, former assistant vice-president Mohammad Fazlur Rahman, incumbent assistant vice-president Neyamutullah and executive officer ANM Raqibul Islam
The corruption watchdog's Assistant Director Rafiquzzaman, also the investigation officer (IO), submitted charge sheet against the six to the CMM court on August 27, showing 12 people as prosecution witnesses.
The IO included the names of Neyamutullah and Raqibul in the charge sheet as he found evidence of their involvement in the corruption during investigation, although their names were not mentioned in the first information report (FIR).
ACC Assistant Director Abdul Latif filed the case against Karim and three other people with Motijheel Police Station on February 1, accusing them of embezzling Tk 6.7 crore from the principal branch of Oriental Bank Ltd.
ABBAS CASE
Judge Mohammad Abu Mohsin of the Fifth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court will decide on September 9 whether to frame charges against the former housing minister.
The court set the date yesterday after hearing arguments from the prosecution and the defence on the issue in the presence of Mirza Abbas.
Motijheel police submitted the charge sheet against the former minister to the CMM court, showing 14 people as prosecution witnesses.
The case was filed against him on February 24 under the Special Powers Act, Money Laundering Act and Excise Act.
The joint forces seized stacks of local and foreign currencies and other items from Abbas' South Shahjahanpur residence in the capital on February 4.
The items seized included sales receipts for gold ornaments worth Tk 40 lakh, 4,600 US dollars, 17,000 Thai bahts, 418 Singapore dollars, 432 Malaysian ringgits, several mobile phone sets and five passports.
The complainant of the case, Sub-Inspector Rafiqul Islam, alleged that Abbas had kept those in his possession, evading tax.
HARRIS CASE
Judge Sayed Jahed Mansur of the Metropolitan Special Tribunal-9 yesterday finished recording statements of all the prosecution witnesses in the case for keeping foreign currencies at his Gulshan residence.
The court set September 10 for arguments.
Sub-Inspector Babul Hossain at Gulshan Police Station, also the investigation officer, submitted the charge sheet to the CMM court, showing 18 people as prosecution witnesses.
The joint forces on February 4 seized two briefcases from Harris' Gulshan residence. The briefcases were found to be full of foreign currencies after they were opened on April 2 in the presence of Metropolitan Magistrate Mir Ali Reza.
Gulshan police on April 9 filed the case against Harris under Money Laundering Act. The case statement said Harris planned to smuggle out the foreign currencies worth about Tk 5.64 lakh.
Earlier on May 22, a special court sentenced Harris to three years in jail for not submitting wealth statement to the ACC within the stipulated timeframe.
HELAL CASE
Detained Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) president Azizul Baree Helal was sent to jail after a 10-day police custody in connection with two cases filed for allegedly disrupting law and order on the Dhaka University campus.
Metropolitan Magistrate Shah Alam Sarder passed the order after Ramna police produced Helal before the court on completion of a four-day remand.
In the forwarding report, the IO mentioned that the accused gave important information on the incidents which was being verified. He should be confined in custody until the investigation is completed, the IO said.
Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested Helal at his Moghbazar residence in the capital on August 24.
MILON CASE
Metropolitan Magistrate ABM Abdul Fattah yesterday sent former BNP lawmaker AKM Fazlul Haque Milon to jail after Ramna police produced him before the court.
He was shown arrested under the Emergency Power Rules. Police told the court that he amassed huge wealth through illegal means while was a BNP lawmaker.
The former Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal president was arrested as he was driving through the upscale Gulshan neighbourhood on Tuesday.
He had been absconding since the joint forces started the crackdown on corruption suspects.
Our Barisal correspondent reports: A Barisal court yesterday sent Barisal City Corporation Mayor Majibor Rahman Sarwar to jail after completion of a ten-day remand in two phases in connection with a murder case.
Barisal Sadar Upazila Magistrate Munim Hassan also gave order to send three other accused -- Abdus Sobhan, Mamun Talukdar and Kalu Kha -- to jail after rejecting their bail prayers.
Mayor Sarwar was produced before the jam-packed court amid tight security. His counsel prayed for bail, saying no importation information about his involvement in the crime was found during investigation.
Opposing the bail prayer, Mihir Kanti Das, who stood on behalf of the state, said vital information was found about the mayor's involvement in the murder of Tera Shajahan.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge turned down the bail prayers and sent Sarwar and the three other accused to jail.