ACC move to bring back Mir Kashem’s laundered $25m

Mahabub Alam :
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is taking step to bring back about $25 million from the USA, which Jamaat leader Mir Kashem Ali laundered to ‘Cassidy and Associates’, a lobbyist farm in order that the farm would interrupt war crimes trial.
As part of the move, ACC has already sent a Mutual Legal Assistant Request (MLAR) to the USA government through the attorney general of Bangladesh.
M Badiuzzaman, Chairman of the anti-graft watchdog, admitting the fact said, “The Commission has sent the MLAR to the USA a few days ago. We may be able to know in details after getting a response from the USA government”.
In response to the law ministry’s letter, the ACC in 2012 assigned its Deputy Director Nur Hossain Khan the charge of investigation.
The letter said that Mir Kashem Ali remitted $25 million to the farm located in Washington to combat against war crimes trial.
An agreement was signed between Mir Kashem Ali on behalf of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Andrio J Kameros, on behalf of the Cassidy and Associates on October 6 in 2010. The Commission has collected a photocopy of the agreement and money payment receipt.
Getting $25 million, the farm started to work for the war crimes criminals. If the farm had been successful, additional one and a half lakh dollar would have been paid. The Jamaat leader also agreed to bear the traveling cost of the farm officials. After the contract was signed, Mir Kashem Ali wrote a letter to the farm to convince senators, congressmen and South Asia affairs administrators to stop the trial.
Tomi Cadman, a USA lawyer, came to Bangladesh to fight for Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee following the agreement. On November 2 in 2014, the International Crimes Tribunal awarded death penalty to Mir Kashem Ali.