Benazir, his family withdrew all money in a single day
Staff Correspondent
As soon as the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) began investigating allegations of illegal assets, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed, his wife, and their children withdrew all the money from their multiple bank accounts in a single day.
According to the ACC's progress report prepared for submission to the High Court, Benazir and his family members emptied almost all their accounts in one day. A total of 116 accounts were found in their names. Transactions worth crores of taka were made in these accounts, with many abnormal transactions noted. The five-page main report, along with related data and evidence, spans a total of 42 pages.
The report reveals that a three-member committee was formed on 18 April to investigate Benazir Ahmed and his family members. Since 19 and 20 April were weekly holidays, the committee assumed responsibility on 21 April.
In response to a writ petition, on 23 April, a High Court bench directed an investigation into Benazir and ordered the submission of a progress report on the investigation within two months.
On the very day of the High Court's order, Benazir Ahmed, along with his wife and children, withdrew over fifty crore taka from at least 40 of their 116 bank accounts. Among these, Benazir Ahmed withdrew Tk3,03,02812 from his account at the Community Bank corporate branch, his wife Jeeshan Mirza withdrew Tk3,33,05014 from her account at the same branch and their daughter Farheen Rishta Binte Benazir withdrew Tk16,70,886.
Subsequently, on 28 April, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sent letters to 46 offices, including Bangladesh Bank, RAJUK, various land offices, and sub-registry offices, requesting information on the financial assets of Benazir and his family. Following this, on 29 and 30 April, Benazir and his family withdrew all the money from their bank accounts and transferred it abroad.
Notably, on 29 April, Benazir Ahmed laundered a total of 6,070,000 through an outward clearing transaction from his account at the Sonali Bank local office. Additionally, on 30 April, another Tk14,00000 was withdrawn in cash from the same branch of Sonali Bank.
The report says the preliminary investigations revealed that Benazir Ahmed, his wife Jeeshan Mirza and their daughters Farheen Rishta Binte Benazir, Tahsin Raisa Binte Benazir, and the minor Zaira Zarin Binte Benazir possess a substantial amount of immovable property, including land, houses, flats, plots, resorts, and bungalows.
They have 116 current, savings, fixed deposits, and foreign currency bank accounts. These accounts have experienced abnormal transactions amounting to crores of taka. Following the initiation of the investigation, a significant amount of money was swiftly withdrawn through suspicious transactions.
Several companies, either fully or partially owned, registered with the Joint Stock Companies were discovered, holding shares worth crores of taka. Additionally, Benazir and his family members have numerous beneficiary owner (BO) accounts in multiple brokerage houses with a high volume of transactions.
The investigation further reveals that, according to the documented values, Benazir Ahmed's immovable properties amount to Tk92,572,565, his wife Jishan Mirza's to Tk213,450,043, his daughter Farheen Rishta Binte Benazir's to Tk81,089,696, and Tahsin Raisa Binte Benazir's to Tk47,559,848. The valuation of these properties is being determined by impartial engineers and experts, and the actual value is expected to be much higher.
Furthermore, the report notes that 25 acres of land in Bandarban under Benazir Ahmed's name, two plots of 14 katha each in Munshiganj, a luxurious seven-storey house in Uttara under Jeeshan Mirza's name, and six flats in Pisciculture Housing in Adabar have not been appraised.
The properties in question have been shown as leased and irrevocably given under a power of attorney. The value of these properties is also being assessed. These financial assets have been seized and frozen by court order. Receivers have been appointed for them. The income tax records of Benazir, his wife and children are being reviewed. Additionally, an investigation is underway to locate any assets held in their names, benami (in someone else's name), or abroad.
Despite being summoned twice by ACC for questioning, Benazir and his family did not appear. Due to the youngest daughter Zaira Zareen being a minor, she was not summoned or issued any notice regarding the assets. The forwarding report mentions that this progress report of the investigation is being submitted to the court in compliance with the High Court Division's order dated 23 April in the context of writ petition number 4425/2024. The report was provided by the Deputy Director (Money Laundering) of the ACC Md. Anwar Hossain. A notice has been issued seeking an account of the assets. The report will be submitted to the relevant bench of the High Court next Sunday or Monday, according to ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan.
During the ACC's investigation into allegations of acquiring illegal assets, Benazir Ahmed left the country with his family on 4 May. He served as the Inspector General of Police from April 2020 to September 2022. Before that, he was the Director General of RAB from January 2015 to April 2020. He also served as the Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) for an extended period.
Comment / Reply From
You May Also Like
Latest News
Vote / Poll
ফিলিস্তিনের গাজায় ইসরায়েলি বাহিনীর নির্বিচার হামলা বন্ধ করতে জাতিসংঘসহ আন্তর্জাতিক সম্প্রদায়ের উদ্যোগ যথেষ্ট বলে মনে করেন কি?