The Thailand's ambassador to Bangladesh has confirmed that BNP chief Khaleda Zia's youngest son Arafat Rahman Coco, convicted in a money-laundering case, is in Malaysia, not in Thailand.
Published : 12 Jul 2011, 07:21 AM
"Coco is not in Thailand. He is in Malaysia, and you should ask the Malaysian ambassador about him," Tasanawadee Miancharoen said at a media briefing in the city on Tuesday.
The Thai ambassador makes the comment confirming Coco's whereabouts at a time when rumours are rife about his leaving Thailand to avoid 'getting extradited' after he was found guilty of laundering money to Singapore.
Coco and Ismail Hossain Simon, son of former BNP shipping minister late Akbar Hossain, were convicted of money laundering and jailed for six years and fined Tk 190.41 million each recently.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against Coco and Simon for laundering Singaporean dollar 2,884,000 and US dollar 932,000 to Singapore.
Coco, arrested on Sept 3, 2007 in the GATCO corruption case, went to Bangkok on parole on July 19, 2008.
The government on Aug 19 last year cancelled his parole and asked him to return home by Aug 31 and surrender in court.
As Coco did not follow the government instruction, he was convicted in the money-laundering case as a fugitive.