Tk 17.6m withdrawn using ex-minister Saifuzzaman’s cheques, company official detained
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has detained a man on charges of withdrawing Tk 17.6 million from four banks using 11 cheques issued in the name of former land minister, now fugitive abroad, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed.
The detainee is Jahangir Alam, an assistant general manager (AGM) of Aramit PLC, a company owned by Saifuzzaman. He was detained today, Wednesday, in Chattogram.
ACC lawyer Mokarram Hossain told Prothom Alo that Jahangir Alam was detained with the original copies (muri) of the cheques signed by Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.
He has been accused of withdrawing the money without authorisation in the absence of the company owner.
According to ACC sources, within the past week, Tk 10 million was withdrawn from several branches of Islami Bank, Tk 3 million from Janata Bank, Tk 3.6 million from Sonali Bank, and Tk 1 million from Meghna Bank.
ACC suspects that the fresh withdrawal of Tk 17.6 million is also linked with embezzlement or laundering.
Jahangir Alam claimed that the money was withdrawn to cover the legal expenses of two bankers earlier arrested by the ACC in a money laundering case. The two are Aramit PLC’s two AGMs, Md Abdul Aziz and Utpal Pal, who were arrested on 17 September in connection with the money laundering case.
However, the ACC suspects that the fresh withdrawal of Tk 17.6 million is also linked with embezzlement or laundering.
On 24 July, the ACC filed a case against Saifuzzaman, several of his family members, and company officials over the laundering of Tk 250 million abroad.
The case was lodged at the Chattogram district office by ACC Deputy Director Md Moshiur Rahman as complainant.
In the case, Saifuzzaman, his wife Rukmila Jaman, siblings, and company officials/employees—31 people in total—were made accused. Arrestee Abdul Aziz is a listed accused in the case. After finding evidence during investigation, the name of official Utpal Pal was also included.
On 17 September, the two arrested officials of Saifuzzaman’s company, Md Abdul Aziz and Utpal Pal, confessed to the ACC regarding the money laundering. They said that under Saifuzzaman’s instructions, Tk 250 million was laundered to different countries including the United Kingdom.
The detainee claimed that the money was withdrawn to cover the legal expenses of two bankers earlier arrested by the ACC in a money laundering case.
The investigation revealed that after a Tk 250 million loan was sanctioned from UCBL Bank, owned by Saifuzzaman, the money was transferred to the account numbers of four shell companies in the same bank. Later, these funds were laundered abroad. According to the ACC, this fraud and embezzlement occurred in 2019–20, when Saifuzzaman was the land minister.
On 7 October last year, the court imposed a travel ban on Saifuzzaman and his wife. Even so, they fled abroad. According to ACC information, Saifuzzaman owns vast wealth in nine countries. Among these are 343 properties in the United Kingdom, 228 in Dubai, and 10 houses in the United States. In addition, he has multiple assets in Thailand, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
According to ACC officials, Saifuzzaman and his family embezzled money from banks within the country and laundered it abroad. In this way, they have become owners of vast wealth in many countries.