Court orders seizure of Salman F Rahman’s 36 bighas of land in Gazipur
The ACC filed the case alleging that the accused misappropriated nearly Tk800 crore by fraudulently overvaluing mortgaged property to secure bonds
A Dhaka court has ordered the seizure of 36 bighas of land in Gazipur owned by Salman F Rahman, former private industry and investment adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and individuals linked to him.
Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Sabbir Faiz issued the order today (24 November) following a petition by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The court also froze an IFIC Bank account under Salman's name containing Tk54.66 crore.
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Confirming the matter, the court's bench assistant, Md Riaz Hossain, said ACC Assistant Director Sajjad Hossain, the investigation officer in the case, submitted the petition on behalf of the commission.
In the petition, Sajjad Hossain said the accused were attempting to transfer funds from their bank accounts and shift ownership of immovable properties by moving or reassigning assets elsewhere.
For this reason, he argued, it was essential to seize the immovable properties and freeze the bank account to prevent further transfers.
Earlier on 20 April, the ACC filed the case alleging that the accused misappropriated nearly Tk800 crore by fraudulently overvaluing mortgaged property to secure bonds.
The case names 30 individuals as accused, including Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam, former chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).
According to the case statement, the accused, acting in collusion, abused their authority and committed fraud by valuing an Tk87 crore mortgaged property at Tk1,020 crore without obtaining a CIB report, conducting any field inspection, or verifying its actual worth.
The complaint says they raised Tk1,000 crore from investors through bonds for a so-called company that had been registered only a month earlier and was owned by inexperienced individuals. The money was deposited into the current account of Sreepur Township Ltd.
From there, they created fixed deposits worth Tk200 crore in the redemption round and transferred the remaining Tk800 crore in government funds to accounts of Beximco Engineering Ltd, other Beximco Group entities, and several additional organisations.
The ACC alleges the group embezzled the funds through cash withdrawals and various suspicious transactions, bypassing banking regulations.
