‘Indulging in Graft’: ACC to make list of those who aided Benazir

An Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigation team is now making a list of police officials, land officials, politicians, and others who aided and abetted former inspector general of police, Benazir Ahmed, in committing corruption.

Once the list is made, the ACC will quiz the individuals.

The sub-registrars of Dhaka, Gopalganj, Madaripur, and Gazipur land offices are likely to be among them, as Benazir and his family own properties in those districts.

A high official at the ACC requesting anonymity told The Daily Star, “Benazir committed corruption with the assistance of many individuals, as it would not have been possible to indulge in corruption to such extent alone. Most of his aides are police personnel.”

The official said, “Some police officers even co-own some of Benazir’s properties, like the Bhawal Resort in Gazipur.”

These individuals reaped benefits when Benazir was the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner, director general of Rab, and the IGP.

The ACC investigation team found that Benazir bought many pieces of land at prices much lower than the market value.

A list of sub-registrars who helped Benazir is being prepared, sources said.

ACC Chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah told The Daily Star yesterday, “Our investigation team is completely independent.

“They will investigate the way they think fit. The team will also interrogate individuals, whose names will come up for aiding and abetting Benazir.”

The ACC team suspects that some bank officials might have helped Benazir withdraw Tk 70–80 crore from 33 bank accounts before they were frozen.

On April 25, the ACC wrote to the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) seeking information on Benazir’s bank accounts. The ACC received a response on May 20.

The accounts were frozen three days later, but during this period, Benazir withdrew the money.

The ACC will investigate whether the banks submitted Cash Transaction Reports and Suspicious Transaction Reports to the Bangladesh Bank.

Banks and other financial institutions have to report to the BFIU about cash transactions of Tk 10 lakhs and above. They have to file a Suspicious Transaction Report if they feel something is off.

On April 18, the ACC decided to launch an inquiry into the allegations of amassing illegal wealth by the former police chief after a Bangla daily ran reports on this.

It also formed a three-member committee to probe the allegations.

On May 23 and May 26, Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court ordered authorities to confiscate his assets under 202 deeds and freeze his bank accounts.