ACC freezes 613 bank accounts of Papul’s family

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to freeze all the bank accounts of Laxmipur-2 MP Kazi Shahid Islam Papul, his wife MP Selina Islam, sister-in-law Jasmine Pradhan, and daughter Wafa Islam on charges of illegal acquisition of wealth and smuggling Tk148 crore.

Relevant sources of the ACC said, the commission has found a total of 613 bank accounts in the name of these four people in eight banks of the country, reports Bangla Tribune.

Among the bank accounts, 590 were found in NRBC Bank, 13 in Prime Bank, four in Mutual Trust Bank, two in Standard Chartered Bank, and one each in City Bank, Sonali Bank, and Trust Bank.

According to ACC sources, besides bank accounts, a total of 30.27 acres of land in different parts of the country and a flat in Gulshan were found in the names of Papul, his wife, sister-in-law, and daughter. The ACC has decided to add these properties to the confiscation list as well.

Of the total property, 22 acres of land was found in Meghna upazila of Comilla, seven and a half acres in Homna, and 49 decimals in Sylhet. The ACC has found a luxurious flat at 8/A and B plot of CEND-2 house on Road No 95 of Gulshan-2.

On November 11, ACC Dhaka District Office-1 Deputy Director Md Saladin filed a case against Kazi Shahid Islam Papul and his wife Selina Islam, sister-in-law Jasmine Pradhan, and daughter Wafa Islam on charges of illegal acquisition of assets and smuggling of Tk148 crore.

It has been alleged in the case that Papul's sister-in-law Jasmine Pradhan has acquired illegal assets worth Tk23,137,738. While she was still a student, she helped to launder and legalize the money of the Papul-Selina couple. 

For this, she also set up an organization called Lilabali. Under the guise of this organization, Jasmine has laundered money through five major banks from 2012 to October 2020 by transferring, converting, and displacing Tk148 crore.

She has about 44 accounts in different banks. Of these, only NRB Commercial Bank has 34 FDR accounts. MP Shahid Islam Papul was a director of NRB Commercial Bank.

Police in Kuwait arrested MP Shahid Islam Papul on June 8 this year. The Kuwaiti government has accused him of human trafficking, money laundering, and exploiting business workers. 

After that, when a storm broke out over the issue, a case was first filed against him in Bangladesh under the Human Trafficking Act. Apart from this, the ACC started an investigation into his illegal acquisition of assets and money laundering. 

On June 17 this year, Papul's wife, sister-in-law, and daughter were banned from leaving the country, on June 22 all their bank accounts were suspended and on July 22, the ACC interrogated Jasmine and Selina.

Other than ACC, police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed a case against Papul and his associates under the Money Laundering Act on December 22.

Earlier on November 26, Shahid Islam Papul's wife, daughter, and sister-in-law filed two petitions with the High Court seeking anticipatory bail in a graft case filed over money laundering, which was denied.