Ex-MP Masud Uddin remanded for 4 days in Malaysian job scam case

A Dhaka court has placed former member of parliament Lt Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury on a four-day remand in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over allegations of misappropriating Tk119 crore from workers recruited for jobs in Malaysia.

The order was passed today (21 June) by the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Sabbir Faiz following an application by the ACC, Bench Assistant Riaz Hossain confirmed the matter.

Earlier, ACC Assistant Director Md Abul Kalam Azad, the investigation officer of the case, produced Masud Uddin before the court and sought a seven-day remand.

According to the remand application, Masud Uddin and others allegedly colluded to secure appointments as agents for recruiting workers for Malaysia and collected money beyond the government-fixed rate of Tk78,990.

The application alleged that the accused caused financial losses to workers by charging additional fees and collecting Tk119.32 crore in excess payments at different stages of the recruitment process.

It further stated that a case was filed under the Penal Code, the Money Laundering Prevention Act and the Anti-Corruption Commission Act over allegations that the accused laundered the illegally obtained money through concealment, transfer, transmission and conversion.

The ACC argued that Masud Uddin's remand was necessary for the sake of further investigation.

ACC Public Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam argued in favour of the remand application, while defence lawyers opposed it.

After hearing both sides, the court granted a four-day remand.

Masud Uddin was detained by the Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Branch of Police from his residence in Baridhara DOHS on the night of 22 March. He was later shown arrested in several cases and taken on remand.