Bashundhara Chair seeks court permission to travel abroad
Staff Reporter :
Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and five of his family members, who are under investigation on corruption allegations, have sought court permission to travel abroad by requesting the withdrawal of the travel ban imposed against them.
The others who filed the petition are Afroza Begum (wife of Ahmed Akbar Sobhan), Sabrina Sobhan (wife of his son Sayem Sobhan Anvir), and his sons Safiat Sobhan Sanvir and Safwan Sobhan.
On Monday, Safwan Sobhan filed the application through his lawyer before Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Sabbir Faiz’s court, seeking permission to travel abroad. The hearing was conducted by Khurshid Alam, former president of the Dhaka Bar Association and convener of the Nationalist Lawyers’ Forum, on behalf of Safwan. Several pro-BNP lawyers, including the forum’s member secretary Nihar Hossain Faruq, were also present.
ACC prosecutor Delwar Jahan Rumi opposed the petition on behalf of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). After the hearing, the court set October 26 for the next hearing on the matter, pending the submission of the investigating officer’s report on their request to travel abroad.
According to court sources, before Safwan’s application, in December last year, Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, his wife Afroza Begum, his son Sayem Sobhan Anvir’s wife Sabrina Sobhan, and another son Safiat Sobhan Sanvir had also sought permission to travel abroad. Their petitions are also scheduled for hearing on October 26, pending the submission of the investigating officer’s report.
Earlier, on October 21 last year, following a petition by the ACC, the court imposed a travel ban on Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, his son and Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir, and six other members of their family.
The individuals restricted from traveling abroad are: Ahmed Akbar Sobhan alias Shah Alam, his wife Afroza Begum, son Sayem Sobhan Anvir and his wife Sabrina Sobhan, another son Sadat Sobhan and his wife Sonia Ferdous Sobhan, and two other sons Safiat Sobhan Sanvir and Safwan Sobhan.
The ACC informed the court in writing that Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and his family members are under investigation for alleged money laundering, tax evasion, land grabbing, loan fraud, embezzlement, and acquisition of illegal wealth, along with offenses related to transfer and conversion of funds under the Money Laundering Prevention Act.
To conduct the investigation, the ACC formed a special inquiry team. The commission’s deputy director Md. Nazmul Hossain filed the petition for a travel ban, stating that the family had plans to leave the country amid the ongoing investigation. After the hearing, the court granted the request and barred them from leaving Bangladesh.