Awami League leader Kazi Zafarullah now arrested in corruption case

A Dhaka court today (3 March) approved a petition to have Kazi Zafarullah, Awami League praesidium member, arrested in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Sabbir Fayez passed the order following a petition by the ACC, confirmed court bench assistant Md Riaz Hossain.

On 22 February, ACC Deputy Director Sharika Islam filed an application seeking to have Zafarullah, the proprietor of Hong Kong Shanghai Manjala Textile Limited, shown arrested in the case.

The court had fixed today for a hearing in his presence. After the hearing, the court ordered that he be shown arrested in the case and sent him back to jail.

According to the arrest petition, the case involves allegations of embezzlement, forgery, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.

The first information report states that Zafarullah, in collusion with several former officials of the Gulshan branch of Premier Bank, opened 10 fixed deposit receipts (FDR) using fake names and forged national identity cards. 

He allegedly deposited Tk4.14 crore in those accounts.

It is further alleged that he obtained an additional Tk42,07,500 in interest through account forgery and later withdrew and concealed the proceeds in the names of fake customers.

The case was filed against him and others under the Penal Code, the Anti-Corruption Act and the Money Laundering Prevention Act.

The petition stated that showing the FIR-named accused arrested was necessary for a fair and impartial investigation.

After the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024, police detained Zafarullah from the capital's Gulshan area on 18 September. He was subsequently shown arrested in several cases and is currently in jail.

Kazi Zafarullah was elected as a member of parliament from Faridpur-5 in the 2001 national parliamentary election.