Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah on Wednesday directed the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to show zero tolerance against corruption. Country’s development is not possible with corruption, the matter has been brought to the notice of the DCs and Divisional Commissioners, he said while talking to reporters on the 2nd day of Deputy Commissioners’ Conference 2023 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital. The DCs were asked to inform any corruption allegation to the ACC if there is no scope for taking action against anyone, he said. “We have to prevent corruption at any cost, and whoever it is we are ready to investigate it,” he said. Read more: PM Hasina opens annual DC conference When asked about the corruption in the land offices, the ACC chairman said digitisation will help reduce corruption in the land offices to some extent. Regarding the allegations of corruption against the DCs, he said, “I do not have the authority to give warnings on the issue of corruption. It is in our constitution. In view of that, laws have been made, commissions have been formed.” He said that if there is any corruption case with merit for investigation, no matter who the person is, an investigation will take place.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has started an investigation against former vice-chancellor of Khulna Agricultural University (KAU), Dr Shahidur Rahman Khan, for his alleged involvement in irregularities in the recruitment of 426 teachers and staff members for the university. KAU authorities on Monday (January 23, 2023) submitted documents related to last three years’ recruitment to the ACC. The development came after a national daily published a report in September last year stating the irregularities in the recruitment process of Khulna Agricultural University. It said some 426 teachers and staff members were appointed for KAU against 350 students and also 43 departments were opened in just three years. Read more: Corruption in NSU’s land acquisition: Hearing on 4 trustees’ bail plea Thursday Later, the University Grants Commission (UGC) conducted an investigation and found anomalies in the recruitment. Based on the report, the education ministry on August 3 last year ordered cancellation of the appointment of 73 teachers and staff members including the relatives of the vice-chancellor. In November last year, ACC took a decision to investigate the irregularities in the recruitment process of KAU and assigned Ershad Mia, deputy director of the ACC, to lead the investigation. The investigation officer on January 2 sent a letter to the university authorities asking to submit recruitment related documents including recruitment notices, candidates' applications, and written test records by January 10. Read more: Irregularities in recruitment: PUST VC freed after 4 hours of confinement The anti-graft agency also requested university authorities to submit a probe report if any investigation was conducted previously in this connection. Later, the inquiry officer extended the deadline till January 23 following the application of university authorities. KAU Registrar Dr Mazharul Anwar on Monday submitted the documents to the investigating officer. Ershad Mia, investigating officer, said he has received some documents and these will be inspected. Read More: UGC asks 4 private universities to stop enrollment for failing to fulfill conditions

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday submitted a  charge sheet against BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas and his wife Afroza Abbas in a case filed for acquiring wealth illegally. ACC Secretary Mahbub Hossain disclosed this at a press briefing at the ACC headquarters. Read more: ACC going after BNP's Amir Khasru with undisclosed equity arrangement in Hotel Sarina The case was filed with Shahjahanpur (DMP) police station on January 7, 2019. According to the case, the couple acquired wealth worth around Tk 20.75 crore beyond their known source of their income.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday arrested the chief assistant (cashier) of Tejgaon Thana Health Complex  Anisur Rahman for embezzling Tk 43 crore. ACC Secretary Mahbub Hossain told reporters at the ACC headquarters on Tuesday. He said that a team led by the investigating officer of the two cases Deputy director SMM Akhtar Hamid Bhuyan arrested them at 12 noon. ACC Deputy Director (Public Relations) Muhammad Arif Sadek said that the money was embezzled through fake bill-vouchers in the project of setting up two medical college hospitals.  ACC filed two separate cases against three persons including Chief Assistant of Tejgaon Thana Health Complex. Anisur Rahman on October 23 this year. Read more: ACC arrests 3 govt officials on graft charges Two cases were filed with the ACC's Integrated District Office, Dhaka-1. The other defendants in the case are M Jahan Traders owner Mohsin Ali and the owner of Green Traders Mahfuz Huda Setu According to the ACC sources, in the first case, the accused have been accused of withdrawing and embezzling TK 21 crore 83 lakh 28 thousand 512 through three fake bill-vouchers in the Sheikh Saira Khatun Medical College, Medical College Hospital and Nursing College establishment project of Gopalganj. In the second case, an allegation of embezzlement of Tk. 21 crore 84 lakh was made from the government treasury through four fake bills in the project 'Shaheed M. Mansoor Ali College and 500-bed Medical College Hospital in Sirajganj' The money was embezzled between 12 and 20 June 2022. Read more: ACC sues Khulna food inspector, wife  

The High Court (HC) on Thursday upheld the trial court’s order granting bail to bdnews24.com Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) accusing the journalist of amassing wealth illegally. The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order after disposing of the rule seeking cancelation of the bail order. Read more: Top court upholds bdnews24.com editor’s anticipatory bail order However, he will have to seek permission from the trial court for going abroad. Senior lawyer Yusuf Hussain Humayun, advocate Shahriar Kabir and barrister Mahbub Shafiq appeared for Khalidi in the court while Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the ACC. ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anowar filed the case on July 30 in 2020. According to the case statement, Khalidi has Tk 42 crore in different bank accounts which have no legal source. On August 26, the High Court granted anticipatory bail to Khalidi for eight weeks. Later, the ACC filed the petition with the Appellate Division challenging the HC order. However, the Appellate Division upheld the HC order on September 21. Read more: HC grants bail to ex-LGRD minister’s APS in money laundering case On October 20, Khalidi surrendered to Dhaka Senior Special Judge's Court and sought bail. After the hearing, the court granted him interim bail till November 25. On November 25, the court granted him the permanent bail. Later on December 8, 2020, following ACC’s petition seeking cancellation of the bail order, the HC issued a rule questioning why the bail granted to bdnews24.com rditor by the trial court should not be canceled.

The Anti-Corruption Commission ( ACC) on Sunday conducted a comprehensive drive on various irregularities-corruption complaints against the officers and employees of Upazila Election Office of Sonaimuri in Noakhali. A team consisting of four members from the Coordinated Integrated office of ACC, Noakhali conducted enforcement operations. During the drive, the team interacted with the service users under cover to get any adverse comments regarding the various irregularities of the election office. Read more: ACC moves to sign deals with 8 nations to bring laundered money back Even then the service receivers informed the team that there is no irregularity. When the upazila election officer was asked about this, he said that he joined this office last September. He is aware and aware of this. He assured the team that appropriate action will be taken regarding the complaint. During the raid, the team searched for the alleged brokers in disguise but no such syndicate was found in the office at the time.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday stayed the HC order granting bail to ex-NSU trustee board member MA Kashem, in a case over laundering around Tk 304 crore in the name of buying land for the campus. Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice M Enayetur Rahim passed the order, said Advocate Khurshid Alam, a counsel of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The court also upheld the HC order granting bail to another former member of the trustee board Rehana Rahman in the case. Advocates Murad Reza, Shah Manjurul Haque and Barrister Syed Ahmed Raza stood for the two accused. Read more: HC grants conditional bail to 2 ex-NSU trustees The High Court (HC) on November 10 granted conditional bail to Kashem and Rehana in the case. They were granted bail on condition that they will not leave the country and not set foot on the NSU campus without permission, said Lawyer Shah Monjurul Hoque. Back in August, the HC issued a rule seeking explanation as to why the two NSU trustee board members should not be granted bail in this case. On May 22, the court ordered Shahbagh police to arrest four NSU trustees after rejecting their anticipatory bail pleas in the case. The other accused trustees are- Benazir Ahmed and Muhammad Shahjahan. On May 5, the ACC sued the chairman of the board of trustees of North South University (NSU) Azim Uddin Ahmed and five others for embezzling Tk 303.82 crore in the name of buying land for the campus. Another accused is- Managing director of Ashalaya Housing and Developers Limited Amin Mohamed Hilali. ACC's Deputy Director Farid Ahmed Patwar filed the case. The case states that over 9088 decimal land was bought in the name of permanent campus development of NSU with the consent of some members of the Board of Trustees bypassing the approval of the University Syndicate, University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Education. They later withdrew cash from the buyer through cash checks in their own names and kept FDR in their own names. They unjustly benefited themselves by committing illegal activities through misuse of power and embezzling university and government funds, according to the case. In carrying out such illegal activities, they committed a punishable offence by resorting to fraud and forgery and exchanging commissions.

While the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has recently been gearing up its anti-government movement defying all sorts of obstacles, party leaders say the government is reviving some pending cases against the leaders and activists with a motive to derail the movement. Some BNP leaders and lawyers say authorities may send some party leaders to jail to convey a message to the opposition party that they would not be spared ahead of the next general election. But the government repeatedly denied such allegations by BNP in the past, saying that authorities do not influence courts.   Read Over 20 injured after police obstruct BNP volunteers’ march in Port City; 10 detained Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, a member of BNP’s Standing Committee, told UNB that the government has become “very nervous” over the overall social, political and economic situation while there is pressure from the international community to restore democracy through an inclusive and credible election. “The government has been failing to stop people’s participation in our rallies despite carefully-orchestrated obstacles against us.  So, the government is desperate to reinforce their repressive acts to suppress us,” he said. “But it’s clear from our recent successful rallies that such a political tactic will not work,” he said. On Tuesday, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court cleared the way for a lower court to continue the trial involving graft charges against BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case in 2007 on charges of amassing wealth illegally. Read Bus owners threaten strike on Nov 4, 5 in Barishal ahead of BNP’s rally The trial proceedings against Khandaker Mosharraf on charges of siphoning off Tk 90 million are also set to enter its final stage. The ACC filed the case in 2014, accusing him of making money illegally when he was the health minister from 2001-2006. The ACC has also started an investigation against nine other people, including Standing Committee members Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, for suspicious transactions before the 11th parliamentary elections. Lawyers loyal to BNP say the trials of many cases against BNP leaders and activists are going on with lower courts in Dhaka and elsewhere. BNP says around 36 lakh BNP leaders and activists are now facing over one lakh cases. They say the charges are politically motivated. Read: Thousands join as BNP’s Khulna rally starts earlier than scheduled

The High Court has given Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) three months to sign mutual legal assistance (MLA) pacts with 10 countries for obtaining information and proof required to recover black money stashed abroad. An HC bench of justices Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Khijir Hayat passed the order on Wednesday (October 26, 2022). Deputy attorney general AKM Amin Uddin Manik appeared for BFIU, while advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Read: HC orders BFIU to form research cell to bring back laundered money In a report submitted to the court on Tuesday, BFIU said that they had advised the Financial Institutions Division (FID) to sign MLA agreements with at least 10 countries to get necessary help in bringing back laundered money from abroad. These countries are the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Thailand and Hong Kong (China). The report also said that "BFIU has asked Bangladesh Bank (BB) to recruit manpower for the proposed ‘Research Cell’ which will help in identifying money launderers and recovering the money." Read Black money whitening got little response in FY 22: NBR data According to the report, the recruitment process is currently ongoing. The report added that the sixth meeting of the taskforce, led by the attorney general and formed to recover laundered money, took place on January 3, 2022. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Home Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, FID, ACC, BFIU and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police. Read Finance bill 2022 passed with limits on proposal to whiten black money It was decided at the meeting that urgent steps needed to be taken to identify the launderers and bring back black money stashed in foreign banks. The High Court on August 31 ordered the head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit to form a research cell to prevent money laundering, bring back laundered money, monitor and control it. Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit head Md Masud Biswas was also directed to submit a progress report regarding the formation of Research Cell by the next hearing set to be held on October 26. On August 10, the Swiss ambassador in Dhaka Nathalie Chuard said that they have been providing the Bangladesh government with all information regarding deposits of Bangladeshi money in Swiss banks, "but no request has been submitted regarding any particular account". On August 11, the High Court bench ordered the government and the Anti-Corruption Commission to explain why the government did not seek information of deposits of Bangladesh money stashed in Swiss banks. On August 14, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit was asked to submit a report in this regard in the affidavit form. On August 21, following the High Court order, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit's report was submitted stating that the information regarding deposits of 67 Bangladeshis in various Swiss banks was sought from the authorities concerned in Bern.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday sent a letter to Grameen Telecom after starting an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of money.  The ACC sent a letter on Sunday (July 31) asking for the information of four members of the board of directors of Grameen Telecom including Muhammad Yunus. Earlier, ACC Secretary Mahabub Hossain informed that the ACC has started an inquiry against the board of directors of Grameen Telecom. An inquiry committee has been formed to investigate the allegation, he added. Read: ACC to grill Shilpakala Academy DG on Jan 16 According to sources of ACC, ACC Director Syed Iqbal Hossain has been appointed as the supervising officer in the investigation committee while deputy director Gulshan Anwar Pradhan has been made the team head and the other members are assistant director Jasmine Akhtar and Noore Alam Siddiqui. Alongside, the four members of the board of directors have been asked to know various information.  The ACC is investigating the charges against them, including misappropriation of 5 percent of the dividend reserved for distribution among workers, illegal deduction of 6 percent as advocate fees and other fees while paying workers' dues, interest allocated to workers' welfare fund, embezzlement of Tk 45 crore 52 lakh 13 thousand without distribution and embezzlement by transfer of Tk 2977 crore from the company to the bank accounts of various subsidiaries for the purpose of money laundering.