Court orders confiscation of Salman's London property as Beximco pays Tk55cr to 16,000 workers
Last month, authorities were ordered to confiscate 372 bank accounts of Salman, his family, and his aides, where Tk55.6 crore was found
A Dhaka court on Monday (10 March) asked the authorities concerned to confiscate the property of Salman F Rahman, the former private industry affairs adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in London.
Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Zakir Hossain Galib passed the order and asked to confiscate the accounts of two banks of Salman and shares of a company, said Aktarul Islam, public relation officer of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), reports UNB.
Salman and others have been accused of embezzling thousands of crores of taka from shareholders through placement share manipulation and fraud, embezzling around Tk36,000 crore by taking loans from various public and private banks of the country and laundering thousands of crores of taka abroad.
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During the investigation, ACC found bank accounts under the names of Salman, his family members, and close relatives.
Earlier, on February 24, the court asked the authorities to confiscate 372 bank accounts of Salman, his family, and his aides.
A total of Tk55.6 crore has been found in the bank accounts.
On 13 August 2024, police arrested Salman from Dhaka's Sadarghat area and since then he has been in jail in different cases filed against him.
Beximco pays wages for workers of 14 factories
Meanwhile, Beximco Industrial Park authorities have cleared wages and dues for workers from 14 closed factories in Gazipur's Kashimpur area.
AKM Zahidul Islam, the police superintendent of Gazipur Industrial Police-2, confirmed to The Business Standard that 16,142 workers received Tk55.37 crore in outstanding payments.
"The payment process, which began on Sunday, was carried out in stages. On the first day, the wages of 245 workers from Crescent Accessories and Yellow Apparels were settled, amounting to approximately Tk80 lakh," he added.
Beximco Industrial Park's Manager (Administration) Md Arif Ahmed said the payments were not made in cash but transferred directly to workers' mobile apps or bank accounts.
A statement released on Monday, signed by Khalid Shahrior, head of Human Resources and Compliance at the park - which is owned by Salman F Rahman, read, "The final settlement was completed for workers from seven Beximco garment factories, totalling 16,142 workers.
"To date, payments for workers in nine factories have been fully settled, with the process set to continue until all dues are cleared for workers at the remaining factories."
After Salman's arrest, 14 factories were shut down by 28 February, affecting 31,679 workers and 1,565 staff members.
On 6 March, the government provided a loan of Tk525.46 crore via cheque to clear the outstanding dues for workers and employees at the closed factories.
The cheque was handed over by AHM Shafiquzzaman, secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, to Beximco Limited's Managing Director Osman Kaiser Chowdhury. Since Sunday, the payments have been disbursed gradually.
