Tax files under scanner
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) have asked all operating banks in the country to freeze all personal and institutional bank accounts of expelled Jubo League leaders GK Shamim and Khalid Mahmud Bhuiyan.
The revenue board yesterday asked banks to send details of all bank accounts of arrested Shamim and Khalid, their businesses and family members, and freeze their accounts.
NBR also sought to know import details of casino equipment by their owning companies.
“We have asked banks to let us know details of bank balance and transaction of GK Shamim and Khalid Mahmud Bhuiyan, members of their families and their owning and associate companies. We asked them to freeze their bank accounts also,” NBR Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told Dhaka Tribune.
He said they were also in search of import details of casino machinery by the companies in question.
He, however, admitted that the revenue board was yet to know the exact bank balance of GK Shamim and Khalid Mahmud Bhuiyan.
“We hope to complete estimating their wealth and bank balance soon,” Mosharraf said, when asked.
Sources at the NBR said the income tax department already launched investigation into the tax files of GK Shamim and Khalid Mahmud Bhuiyan to unearth tax evasion, if any.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) yesterday asked all banks to freeze all personal and institutional bank accounts of GK Shamim and Khalid Mahmud Bhuiyan following their arrests on money laundering charges.
The instruction of BFIU also asked banks to submit detailed statements of their bank accounts.
The BFIU is the central agency of the government that was established at the Bangladesh Bank headquarters in 2002 to deal with money laundering crimes.
In 2010, it was renamed as BFIU with operational independence from the previous name of Anti Money Laundering Department.
BFIU chief Abu Hena Mohd Razee Hassan said there were constant directives for banks to comply with laws relating to Money Laundering Prevention Act 2002 (amended 2012) immediately in case of any complaints filed with police stations or any other law and order agencies.
"Two orders for banks were served from BFIU. We have asked the banks to freeze all their bank accounts,” Razee Hassan told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
According to BFIU sources, in the orders, banks were asked to submit detailed statements of their bank accounts. Besides, banks accounts of their family members and business establishments have also be frozen.
A top official at a private commercial bank, preferring anonymity, said his bank already froze bank accounts of Shamim and Khalid, along with their family members, and business establishments.
Meanwhile, GK Shamim and Khalid Mahmud were placed on remand by court for 10 and seven days respectively.
In addition to money laundering, other allegations against them include extortion, possessing firearms, running illegal casino and racket of drugs, gambling and prostitution, according to police.
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel raided GK Shamim's Niketon residence cum office on Friday last and nabbed him with Tk1.80 crore in cash, Tk165.27 crore worth of fixed deposit receipts (FDR), alcohol and firearms.
After his arrest, Gulshan Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Kamruzzaman told the media that three cases were filed against GK Shamim for illegal possession of narcotics and firearms and money laundering charges.
Shamim owns a private firm known as GKB & Company (Pvt) Limited, which is a government enlisted top profile construction firm. Shamim is the managing director and chairman of the company.
On September 18, the RAB personnel cordoned off the residence of Jubo League leader Khaled Mahmud Bhuiyan and arrested him on charges of running a casino at the Young Men’s Club in Dhaka’s Fakirapool area.
They also seized 585 yaba tablets, a large cache of foreign currencies and illegal weapons from his residence.
The same day, RAB forces conducted a raid on the club, detained more than 140 persons including gamblers and staffers and seized a huge cash and micro chips and other materials used for gambling, and a huge quantity of alcohol, gambling equipment and Tk2.29 lac from the club.
The RAB has filed three cases against Khalid under the drug laws, Arms Act, and Money Laundering Act.
GK Shamim was the central cooperative secretary of Jubo League and Khalid Mahmud Bhuiyan was the Organizing Secretary of Dhaka South Jubo League.
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