A court has sentenced a food department official, his father and his wife to five years' rigorous imprisonment each in a corruption case over amassing wealth beyond known sources of income.
The court also fined Assistant Sub-Food Inspector Monirul Islam Tk 11.44 crore and imposed a fine of Tk 10 lakh each on his father Shahidul Islam Pramanik and wife Doly Begum.
The verdict was delivered on Thursday by Judge Abu Saleh Md Salauddin Khan of the Pabna Special District and Sessions Judge's Court.
Monirul, a resident of Char Damdama village in Ullapara upazila of Sirajganj, is currently serving as an assistant sub-food inspector at Kazipur Upazila Food Warehouse.
He previously served at food warehouses in Sirajganj Sadar, Belkuchi and Kamarkhand upazilas.
Public Prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commission in Pabna, Moloy Kumar Das, confirmed the verdict and said the court also ordered the confiscation of the convicts' movable and immovable properties in favour of the state.
According to the ACC, its then Deputy Director Shahidul Alam Sarker of the Pabna Integrated District Office filed two separate cases on December 19, 2021, over allegations of acquiring illegal wealth. Charge sheets were later submitted following investigation.
After examining the evidence, the court found the charges proved and handed down the sentences.
According to the case statement, Monirul allegedly accumulated assets beyond his known sources of income while serving at food warehouses in Sirajganj Sadar, Belkuchi and Kamarkhand between April 22, 2014 and February 23, 2020.
The ACC alleged that he invested Tk 60 lakh in a fixed deposit (FDR) at One Bank's Sirajganj branch in the name of his wife and spent Tk 54.80 lakh to construct a building on land owned by his father.
Investigators said his father and wife assisted him in concealing the illegally acquired assets, constituting an offence under Section 27(1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004.
None of the three convicts was present in court when the verdict was delivered.