NBR senior official Belal Hossain Chowdhury made OSD

Belal Hossain Chowdhury, a senior official of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), has been made an Officer on Special Duty (OSD).

The order was issued in the afternoon today, Thursday by the Internal Resources Division (IRD), instructing that it takes immediate effect.

The order was signed by IRD Deputy Secretary Humayun Kabir. Earlier on Wednesday, Belal Hossain Chowdhury was removed from his position as NBR member and transferred as president of the Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal, Dhaka. He had been serving as a member of the NBR for over a year.

Belal Hossain Chowdhury faces allegations of amassing nearly Tk 50 million (Tk 5 crore) in wealth beyond his known sources of income. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case against him on Tuesday in this connection.

According to the ACC’s investigation report, Belal declared assets worth about Tk 88.3 million (Tk 8.83 crore) in his wealth statement. However, verification revealed assets worth around Tk 134.3 million (Tk 13.43 crore) in his name, meaning he concealed assets worth about Tk 46 million (Tk 4.60 crore).

The report further states that after deducting liabilities, Belal’s net assets amount to about Tk 75.2 million (Tk 7.52 crore), while his total accumulated wealth, including family expenses, stands at about Tk 165 million (Tk 16.50 crore). In contrast, his legal sources of income account for only about Tk 115.2 million (Tk 11.52 crore).

According to ACC it seemed in their investigation that Belal Hossain Chowdhury during his service as a government official abused his power and engaged in irregularities and corruption to acquire these assets.

ACC investigators found that Belal Hossain Chowdhury committed these irregularities and corruption while serving as commissioner of Benapole Customs House and director general of the Duty Exemption and Drawback Office (DEDO).