Detained businessman Giasuddin Al Mamun was in the spotlight as a controversial businessman, a close friend of Tarique Rahman and part of the mighty Hawa Bhaban coterie throughout the rule of BNP-led four-party alliance.
During the period, he became a byword for corruption and abuse of power. Despite having no relations with the party officially, he used to pull strings in BNP politics.
He was one of those detained as graft suspects soon after the military-backed caretaker government took office in January last year. He was also among the first 50 high-profile individuals listed as graft suspects by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Tarique, detained son of detained former prime minister Khaleda Zia, and Mamun worked in tandem to amass a fortune through misuse of power. Those with overwhelming political and business ambition would compete avidly for their attention.
A number of former BNP ministers and lawmakers with close links to Hawa Bhaban, the BNP chairperson's Banani office, are reportedly his business partners. They would do anything to be on good terms with him and through him please Tarique, also senior joint secretary general of BNP.
Thanks to his relations with Tarique, he became astronomically wealthy in the five years since 2001. His business syndicate reportedly made thousands of crores of taka and one such instance is sale of concrete electric poles to Rural Electrification Board through his firm Khamba Ltd.
He now owns 9,000 shares worth Tk 33.94 crore and has 45 accounts at home and abroad with wealth totalling Tk 141.74 crore.
He started up in business with a paltry investment of Tk 39,000 in 1991. Together with Tarique and his younger brother Arafat Rahman Koko, Mamun established Rahman Shippers during the tenure of the first BNP government under the leadership of Khaleda Zia.
Tarique was the managing director of the company while Arafat, who is also behind bars now on corruption charges, and Mamun were the directors.
Mamun began to hog the limelight for his involvement in activities controlled from Hawa Bhaban in the lead-up to the 2001 general election.
He set up One Group soon after the BNP-led alliance came to power. He also established One Textile, a yarn dyeing factory in Gazipur. The factory has been in production for the last two and a half years. Later in Panchagarh, he launched electric pole manufacturing plant Khamba Ltd.
Besides owning One Textile, Khamba Ltd, One Composite, One Spinning, One Denim, One Consumer Product Ltd, and Channel One, he is also the director of Silver Line Composite Mill and Rahman Navigation.
Of his businesses, Khamba Ltd became the most talked about in recent times. Built on around 99 acres of land at Goalpara in Panchagarh sadar upazila, it went into production in 2003.
He also owns Precrust Concrete Industries Ltd, another electric pole manufacturer, at Bhaluka in Mymensingh.
His palatial house at South Chhayabithi, around 2km southeast of Gazipur town, is estimated to have cost around Tk 8 crore.
It is centrally air-conditioned and equipped with foreign fittings. Mamun used to throw lavish parties there once or twice a month.
Following the killing of Awami League lawmaker Ahsanullah Master on May 7, 2004, locals set fire to it. But the duplex on an eight-katha land still stands, outshining the other buildings in the neighbourhood.
WEALTH
He has Tk 26.32 crore deposited in three accounts with Natwest Bank and Citibank in London and Singapore respectively.
He has 24 FDR accounts in the Banani branch of Dhaka Bank and seven in the Banani branch of Dutch Bangla Bank.
He owns a house in Uttara, 10 kathas of land in Gulshan, several acres of land in Cox's Bazar, seven acres in 11 places at Kaliakoir of Gazipur, and several more acres in Bhola.
Most of the properties he owns were bought between 2002 and 2003.
According to Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) report, the value of the lands owned by Mamun and his wife is not less than Tk 16 crore and most of those were bought with money earned through illegal means.
The ACC also found four joint FDR accounts under the names of Mamun and Kazi Babul.
SHARES
Mamun owns 2,000 out of 10,000 shares in Channel One and their estimated worth is Tk 4.33 crore. Of 11,000 shares in Denim Mills Ltd, he owns 5,000 worth Tk 24.88 crore. He is also the owner of 2,000 of a total 10,000 shares in One Spinning Mills Ltd and those are worth Tk 4.74 crore, according to income tax department.