Trouble for ex-Bangladesh PM Zia’s son

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 2:03 am

In the first such action since the Sheikh Hasina government came to power, the anti-graft body of Bangladesh on Tuesday (March 17) slapped a money-laundering case against main opposition leader Khaleda Zia’s younger son Arafat Rahman Koko, charging him with siphoning out $38.16 lakh to hide his illegal sources of income.

“The case was filed as the allegation was proved in our primary investigation,” a spokesman of the powerful Anti-Corruption Commission said. This was the first graft case lodged by the anti-graft body since Hasina’s Awami League government was installed after the landmark December 29 general elections.

Officials said if found guilty, he might be sentenced to seven years in jail. The case filed under Money Laundering Prevention Act 2009, accuses Koko of laundering funds he had received in bribes while Zia was the prime minister during the 2001-2006 tenure of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). An accused in several other graft cases, Koko is now in Bangkok for treatment on a parole granted on July 19 last year after he fell sick. Singaporean authorities in December last year froze assets worth $1.6 million associated with a company Koko established in 2004.

The United States and Britain earlier extended hands to Bangladesh in recovering an estimated $200 million allegedly stashed by Koko and several other high-profile suspects in Singapore banks. The money was allegedly paid in kickbacks to Koko and several ministers of Zia’s past BNP-led four-party alliance government by different foreign and local companies for getting lucrative projects in different sectors.

Koko and his elder brother Tareq Rahman was arrested along with their mother by the past interim government under emergency rules as it launched a massive anti-graft campaign after its installation with crucial military support following the promulgation of the state of emergency. The graft cases against Zia family members as well as many other high-profile politicians including those of the ruling Awami League were later stayed by the High Court as their legality were challenged by the accused.

(With inputs from agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Trouble for ex-Bangladesh PM Zia’s son

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