'Goat scandal': Relatives in village shocked at Matiur’s wealth revelation
Relatives of former National Board of Revenue (NBR) official Matiur Rahman, now accused of corruption, are finding it hard to believe that he has amassed such wealth as reported by the Anti-Corruption Commission and media outlets in recent days.
Matiur came to the limelight when his son from his second wife attempted to buy a goat for a staggering Tk15 lakh.
But it was only a drop in the ocean for Matiur's hidden wealth, leaving his villagers in shock.
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The former revenue official allegedly used his position as NBR Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal president to acquire hundreds of crores worth of financial and real estate assets. The ACC is currently investigating these corruption allegations.
After visiting Matiur's ancestral home in Bahadurpur village of Kazirchar Union in Barishal's Muladi Upazila The Business Standard on Tuesday (25 June) found that he is locally known as Pintu, son of Abdul Hakim, who was a BNP politician and served as chairman of the Kazirchar Union Parishad.
According to locals, Matiur last visited his village in 2019. His elder and younger brothers are also rarely seen in the village, leaving cousins to manage the family estate. Villagers find it hard to believe the extent of Matiur's assets.
"Everything that is being said about his brother is a conspiracy. He is not the owner of so much wealth. His wealth was built through his own hard work," Matiur's cousin Mahmudunnabi told TBS.
"Matiur used to raise goats and save the money from selling them since he was in school."
According to Mahmudunnabi, eldest among three brothers and two sisters, Matiur had financial difficulties in his early life. He studied at his aunt's house in Babuganj.
Claiming the allegations are baseless Matiur's another cousin Fakhruddin said, "If he had so much money, we would have at least some idea. A neutral investigation will prove our brother innocent."
Fakhruddin, however, also acknowledged that after taking charge as a revenue officer, Matiur built several acres of land and houses in the area and opened a bag manufacturing factory for his brother in Dhaka.
According to sources, Matiur's village house is built on about 1.5 acres of land. He also has 20-50 acres of farmland.
In addition to his village property, on 4 June the ACC investigation revealed properties in Dhaka's Purbail, including 55 bighas of land, a park, another 300 bighas of land, a shoe factory, and luxury cars under his or his relatives' names.
Sources said Matiur's brother, Kaiyum Howladar, is a BNP politician. Matiur himself opened a travel bag manufacturing factory in Tongi, Dhaka, shortly after taking charge as a revenue officer. He also has some other businesses in the local area.
Matiur Rahman was removed from his post as president of the National Revenue Board Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal following the start of the corruption investigation.
On 24 June, a Dhaka court issued a travel ban against Matiur Rahman, his first wife, and their child. On the same day, the Ministry of Finance wrote to Sonali Bank and Bangladesh Bank to remove Matiur from the post of director of the state-owned bank.
On 25 June, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) ordered the seizure of bank accounts of Matiur, his two wives and children, and their affiliated institutions within 30 days.
On the same day, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) directed the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited to seize the Beneficiary Owner Account (BO account) of Matiur and his family members.
Matiur's son from his second wife, Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat, posted a photo of a sacrificial goat on social media and claimed to have bought it for Tk12 lakh.
This raised questions about the income of Matiur, who was a Grade 1 officer with a basic monthly salary of Tk78,000.
