Staff Correspondent

Television presenter and journalist Munni Saha is being interrogated by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in connection with allegations of acquiring wealth beyond known sources of income and suspicious financial transactions.

A  team led by ACC Assistant Director Sabequl Nahar Parul began questioning her at the ACC headquarters at 10 a.m on Wednesday. 

The ACC had earlier revealed on 2 January that it had initiated an inquiry into allegations of suspicious transactions amounting to Tk 134 crore in her bank accounts and illegal asset accumulation.

Following a petition by the ACC, the court ordered the freezing of 31 bank accounts belonging to Munni Saha and her husband Kabir Hossain on 16 July. These accounts reportedly hold a balance of Tk 18.16 crore. Some of the frozen accounts are jointly owned by Munni Saha, ATN News cameraman Tapon Kumar Saha, and his mother Apel Rani Saha. The application to freeze the accounts was filed by ACC Deputy Director Yasir Arafat.

According to allegations and various sources, after the resignation and escape of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina amid the anti-discrimination student movement, Tk 120 crore was withdrawn from Munni Saha’s deposits. The frozen accounts now reportedly have only Tk 14 crore remaining. These transactions were made through 17 different banks, with the largest volume handled through One Bank.

Due to allegations of irregular transactions, Munni Saha's accounts have already been seized by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU).

Bangladesh Bank’s investigation revealed that a bank account under the name "MS Promotions," owned by her husband Kabir Hossain, was opened at One Bank’s Karwan Bazar branch on 2 May 2017, with Munni Saha listed as the nominee.

In addition, another account under the name "Prime Traders," owned by one Mahfuzul Haque, was opened on 21 July 2004 at One Bank’s Khatunganj branch in Chattogram. These two entities—despite having no mutual business relationship—took loans totaling Tk 51.5 crore from the bank. The loans were never repaid, and instead, the bank repeatedly waived interest and renewed the loans. In 2017 alone, interest waivers totaled Tk 25.78 crore. Despite the lack of official ties, large sums of money were transferred between the two accounts on multiple occasions.

After the political change on 5 August, the BFIU summoned Munni Saha’s bank records on 6 October. In addition to her financial dealings, she is also accused of owning a duplex house at 165 Shantiniketan, in the Gulshan–Tejgaon Link Road area.

Munni Saha began her journalism career with the newspaper Bhorer Kagoj, later joining Ekushey Television, and subsequently ATN Bangla. She has presented numerous nationally and internationally significant events on television.