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The Anti-Corruption Commission on Thursday filed two separate cases against the former Director General of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), Maj Gen Ziaul Ahsan, and his wife Nusrat Jahan over significant suspicious transactions.
Ziaul was sent into forced retirement from the army after August 5 last year, following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. Commissioned into the military in 1991, he was a trained commando and paratrooper.
The cases were filed with the ACC's Integrated District Office in Dhaka-1, ACC Director General (Prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain announced during a brief held at its headquarters.
The Commission identified Tk 3.4 billion (Tk 340 crore) in suspicious transactions through 12 bank accounts linked to Ziaul Ahsan, while his wife was found to have suspicious transactions amounting to Tk 2.23 billion (Tk 222.50 crore) through four bank accounts.
Additionally, the ACC uncovered Tk 1.2 billion (Tk 120 crore) in suspicious transactions across eight of his bank accounts, and his wife was accused of amassing illegal wealth worth Tk 185.9 million (Tk 18.59 crore).
The charges against the couple include violations of Section 27(1) of the ACC Act 2004, Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947, and various provisions of the Money Laundering Prevention Act 2012.
It was revealed that Ziaul Ahsan has been a citizen of the tax haven Antigua and Barbuda since 2017. During the acquisition of his citizenship, $200,000 was paid to C & C Consultancy and Management Services by Martil Consulting Malaysia Berhad SDN BHD in Malaysia on behalf of Ziaul Ahsan and his family.
He has also invested approximately $135,000 in five-year bonds of Antigua and Barbuda.
The ACC initiated an investigation into Ziaul Ahsan for accumulating illegal wealth through corruption and abuse of power. A three-member probe team was formed to investigate the allegations against him on December 18 last year.
Led by ACC Deputy Director Md Salahuddin, the team also includes Assistant Director Ranjit Kumar Karmarkar and Deputy Assistant Director Jabed Hossain Sajal.
On August 19, the Bangladesh Bank suspended transactions from the bank accounts associated with his family and related entities.