Ex-Jubo Mohila League leader Papia, her husband get 3.5 years in jail in illegal wealth case

Expelled Jubo Mohila League leader Shamima Nur Papia and her husband Mofizur Rahman Sumon have been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison each in a case over the illegal acquisition of wealth.

Judge Abu Taher of Dhaka’s Third Special Judge’s Court delivered the verdict in the case on Thursday.

In addition to the prison sentences, the court also fined them Tk 500,000 each. They will get another six months in prison if they do not pay the fine.

Papia’s lawyer Shakhawat Ullah Bhuiyan said, “They have already served this sentence.”

ACC Deputy Director Shahin Ara Momtaz initiated the case on Aug 4, 2020, accusing the couple of acquiring Tk 60.25 million in illicit assets.

After an investigation, Momtaz submitted the charge sheet against Papia and Sumon, accusing them of possessing illicit assets worth Tk 58.42 million in March the following year.

On Nov 30, 2021, the court indicted them and ordered the trial to begin.

According to the case statement, between Oct 12, 2019 and Feb 22 the following year, Papia stayed in 25 rooms, including the Presidential Suite and Chairman Suite, of the Westin Hotel in Gulshan. She paid Tk 32.32 million in cash for food, alcohol, spa, laundry, and bar expenses.

During her stay at the Westin, she also made purchases worth nearly Tk 4 million, for which she could not show any legitimate source during the investigation.

In addition, between April 2015 and April 2020, she paid Tk 3 million in rent for her residence at Tk 50,000 per month, invested Tk 10 million in the car business, and Tk 2 million in KMC Car Wash Solution in Narsingdi.

The case statement also said that Papia and her husband had deposits totalling Tk 3.05 million in multiple bank accounts. The ACC investigation found no legal source for these funds.

Papia, who was the general secretary of the Narsingdi district Jubo Mohila League, and her husband Mofizur were arrested on Feb 22, 2020, at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport.

At the time of their arrest, authorities seized seven passports, Tk 212,270 in cash, counterfeit notes worth Tk 25,600, $11,481, some Sri Lankan and Indian currency, and two debit cards.

Later, a raid on Papia’s flat in Dhaka’s Farmgate area uncovered a foreign pistol, two magazines of ammunition, 20 bullets, five bottles of imported liquor, Tk 5.84 million in cash, and multiple credit and debit cards. A separate raid was also conducted at her house in Narsingdi.

The Rapid Action Battalion had claimed at the time that Papia used to rent rooms at The Westin Hotel in Gulshan, where she engaged in “immoral activities” and paid hotel bills amounting to over Tk 10 million with the income.

Following their arrest, the RAB filed two separate cases against Papia and her husband at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station under the firearms and narcotics law.

Another case was filed at the Airport Police Station under the Special Powers Act. The police’s Criminal Investigation Department also filed a money laundering case against them at Gulshan Police Station.

Later, the ACC filed a case against Papia for amassing illegal wealth.

In a separate money laundering case, the court sentenced Papia to four years of rigorous imprisonment on May 25.

However, her husband and associates Sabbir Khandaker, Sheikh Tayeba Nur, and Zubayer Alam were acquitted in the case due to a lack of evidence.