‘Crorepati’ wives

Wives of three former ministers and two sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) came under the scanner of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) following allegations of amassing illegal wealth by them, sources said.
The anti-graft body has launched separate probes into the illegal wealth accumulated by Ela Haque, wife of former Health Minister Ruhul Haque, Hasina Sultana, wife of former State Minister for Housing M Mannan Khan, Pretti Haider, wife of former State Minister for Water Resources Mahbubur Rahman and Tahura Haque and Shahina Akhter, wives of incumbent MP Enamul Haque and Abdur Rahman Bodi.
The former ministers and MPs have allegedly accumulated huge illegal wealth, properties and money by exercising undue power and influence during the last tenure of Awami League government. They later transferred the movable and immovable wealth to their wives’ accounts, sources in the ACC said.
Admitting the matter, ACC Chairman M Badiuzzaman, told The New Nation on Sunday that the Commission has launched the probe on the basis of wealth statements submitted by the former ministers and MPs to the Election Commission (EC) seeking candidature for the 10th parliament.
“We have not only found huge ‘inconsistency’ on the wealth statements of the ministers and lawmakers but also their wives in the wealth information and the ACC investigators have launched the probe taking cognizance of the discrepancy in their wealth statements,” he added.
The ACC chairman further said that they have already completed investigation against Hasina Sultana, wife of former State Minister for Housing M Mannan Khan. “Investigations against others are yet to be completed. I hope the Commission will be able to complete rest of the investigations within one and half months,” he said.
Regarding Hasina Sultana, he said, during investigation, the ACC found that she concealed information of Tk 2 crore and also failed to produce any document pertaining to the income source of Tk 1.5 crore.
If we look into the wealth statements of the former ministers, MPs and their wives, it is evident that they have accumulated unusual wealth in the last five years, he said, adding, “So, the Commission in its probe was trying to ascertain how they acquired such huge wealth”.
Besides, it is looking for their undeclared wealth that might be hidden in their statements submitted to the EC.  
Earlier, the ACC also launched probes into corruption allegations against seven ministers and lawmakers of the ninth parliament following reports published in several newspapers.
As per a Supreme Court verdict in 2007, the EC has to collect eight particulars about lawmaker aspirants, including their wealth statements, and make those public so that voters can know about their prospective representatives.