ACC, CID move to freeze Papul’s family wealth

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Wednesday made two separate moves to freeze the bank accounts and confiscate properties of Lawmaker Kazi Shahid Islam Papul and his three other family members.

The ACC has appealed to the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) to freeze 613 bank accounts of the family while CID appealed with a court seeking the same action.

CID on 7 July filed a case against Lakshmipur 2 constituency MP Kazi Shahid Islam Papul – who is now in a Kuwait prison -- on human trafficking charges.

Subsequently, the ACC launched a probe to investigate the wealth of the lawmaker and his family. On 11 November, the anti-graft watchdog sued Papul, her wife Salina Islam who is also a lawmaker from the reserve seat, daughter Wafa Islam and Sister-in Law Jesmin Pradhan on money laundering charge and amazing illegal wealth.

On Tuesday, CID filed the second case accusing Papul, his daughter and sister-in-law on money laundering charges.

ACC Deputy Director Mohammad Salahuddin in the appeal to BFIU sought 613 accounts of the family with eight different banks frozen. On top of this, the anti-graft watchdog asked BFIU to confiscate around 30.27 acres of land and also a luxurious flat in Dhaka's Gulshan of the family.

In the meantime, CID Chief Barrister Mahbubur Rahman told the press that they have appealed to the court to freeze all the bank accounts and properties of Papul, his family members and accomplices.

"We hope the court will consider our plea soon to freeze the properties," he told reporters at his office Wednesday.

According to CID findings, Papul and his family members amassed more than Tk355 crore and the money was transacted through around 526 accounts and Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) of different 13 banks.

CID also Tuesday claimed to have concrete evidence of Tk38.22 crore laundered by Papul and said it was working to trace the flow of the rest of the money. CID said it found only Tk1.30 crore in those accounts.

In the meantime, the ACC case stated that though Papul's sister-in-law Jesmin Pradhan has no source of income, she had 44 accounts in different banks. The NRB Commercial Bank alone has 34 FDRs in her name, with a total deposit of Tk2.31 crore.

While still a student, Jesmin founded an organisation named "Leelabali" that only exists on paper. Between June, 2012 to June, 2020, Tk148.41 crore has been deposited in her personal or company accounts. The amount was subsequently withdrawn in cash from these accounts, after which the money disappeared without a trace.

Meanwhile, the High Court on Tuesday also ordered Papul's wife and reserved women's seat MP Salina Islam, and their daughter Wafa Islam to surrender before the court by 28 December in the ACC case.