Bangladesh Bank taking over 500kg gold confiscated from Apan Jewellers

Five hundred kilograms of gold and 427 grams of diamonds confiscated from five Apan Jewellers showrooms are being handed over to Bangladesh Bank by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Division (CIID).

The seizure of the gold and diamond began on Sunday morning, said CIID Joint Director Shafiur Rahman.

“The gold from the five showrooms will be transferred to the bank,” he said.

On Saturday night CIID Director General Moinul Khan announced that nearly Tk 1.79 billion in gold, jewellery and diamonds were to be handed over to the central bank.

"The decision has been taken after the owners failed to come up with documents to back the stock," he said on Saturday, reports bdnews24.com.

Customs detectives interrogated the three owners, Dildar Ahmed, Gulzar Ahmed and Azad Ahmed twice, following the raids.

Dildar is the father of Shafat Ahmed who has been arrested on the charge of raping two university girls at a hotel in Banani. Three others, co-accused in the case, are also behind bars.

Khan had said earlier that the owners came up with some photocopied documents showing that they ‘procured’ the gold - 200g each from 200 people who brought it in under the baggage rule. “But they failed to produce any documents or receipts that show they bought the gold from them.”

"The gold brought in under baggage rule is for personal consumption; it cannot be used for commercial purpose. They somehow collected these documents in an attempt to hide their misdeeds.”

The owners were first interrogated on May 17 when they sought 15 days to produce the valid documents. They failed to meet the deadline and sought more time to gather papers.

They were given the new deadline of May 30 to appear before the customs intelligence directorate, but they failed again to produce valid documents.