Staff Reporter :
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed two separate cases against Md Saifuzzaman Shekhor, former assistant private secretary to ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and his wife Sima Rahman on charges of illegally accumulating assets worth Tk2.95 crore.
The cases were filed on Tuesday at the anti-graft body’s Dhaka integrated office, ACC Director General (Prevention) Akhtar Hossain confirmed to the media.
He said Saifuzzaman, who is also a former lawmaker for Magura-1, is accused of misusing his position in government to illegally acquire assets worth Tk1.79 crore.
Moreover, there were suspicious transactions of Tk5.53 crore in seven of his bank accounts, of which Tk5.45 crore had already been withdrawn.
The case against his wife was filed over the alleged illegal acquisition of assets worth Tk1.16 crore.
Both of them are facing charges under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act and the Money Laundering Prevention Act.
On 15 October 2024, the ACC imposed a travel ban on Saifuzzaman and Sima to prevent them from leaving the country amid the ongoing inquiry.
The ACC official also mentioned that a case has been filed against former superintendent of police Md Shahjahan, currently assigned to the Chattogram Range DIG’s office, for allegedly acquiring assets illegally worth Tk1.40 crore through abuse of power during his tenure.
Meanwhile, A Dhaka court has ordered the seizure of 22 flats, two houses, and all plots and land registered in the names of former Padma Bank chairman Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, his wife and son.
Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Zakir Hossain issued the order on Tuesday after holding a hearing on an application of the Anti-Corruption Commission, according to media reports.
ACC Deputy Director Masudur Rahman applied for the seizure of immovable properties of Nafeez, his wife Anjuman Ara Shahid, and their son Chowdhury Rahib Safwan Sarafat, ACC and court sources said.
The flats are located at Dhaka’s Gulshan, Cantonment area, Banani, Baridhara, Bashundhara Residential Area, Nikunja, Panthapath and Pallabi, as well as in Gazipur and Kaliakair.
Of them, Sarafat owns nine flats at Gulshan, Dhaka Cantonment and Bashundhara Residential area, a 20-storey building at Gulshan and 43.20 decimals of property which are located at Dhaka’s Badda and Nikunja, Gazipur, and Kaliakair.
Sarafat’s wife Anjuman Ara Shahid owns six flats at Panthapath, Gulshan, Pallabi and Bashundhara Residential Area and owns 21.25 decimals of property at Bashundhara, Nikunja, Badda and Gazipur while their son Chowdhury Rahib Safwan Sarafat owns seven flats at Banani and Baridhara.
ACC Public Prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir moved the application on behalf of the anti-graft body.
A decade and a half of Awami League rule came to an end on Aug 5, 2024 in the face of a student-led mass movement. That same month, the bank accounts of Nafeez and his wife were frozen.
On Aug 16, the ACC began investigating allegations of embezzlement of Tk 8 billion through bank takeovers and money laundering from the stock market against him.
