ACC traces assets linked to ex-land minister Saifuzzaman in 5 more countries

The watchdog had previously uncovered details about his assets in the United States, Britain, Dubai and Singapore

After the United Kingdom and the United States, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has uncovered new information about overseas assets belonging to "fugitive" former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed in five more countries, including India, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Officials said the discovery came from a large cache of documents seized during a raid on the house of his wife Rukmila Zaman's driver in Chattogram's Karnafuli Upazila early Sunday.

“We conducted a raid on the house of Rukmila Zaman’s personal driver, Iliyas, in the early hours of the morning based on information provided by two of Saifuzzaman’s personal employees after their arrest,” said Moshiur Rahman, deputy director of the ACC head office.

In total, 23 bags of documents were seized, he added.

“In these documents, we have found information about Saifuzzaman Chowdhury’s assets in India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia.”

Earlier, the commission had found information about his assets in the US, Britain, Dubai and Singapore.

“Today we found [his assets in] five more countries,” Moshiur said.

“We have seized a trove of documents in the operation. We have not been able to verify all of them yet. We can get more information after verification.”

The seized documents include records of assets purchased in different countries, income tax papers, rent receipts and other financial information, according to officials.

ACC officials said two employees of the Aramit PLC, a family-owned company of the former minister, were arrested on Wednesday night.

They were identified as Abdul Aziz and Utpal Pal, and later remanded in police custody for questioning with the court’s permission.

Based on information from them, investigators searched the house of Iliyas, the driver, from late Saturday night, leading to the recovery of the documents.

Officials said Aziz, the assistant general manager of Aramit PLC, also owned a company called Imperial Trading, which borrowed money from several banks.

He has been named as an accused in a case filed by the commission.

Utpal, the AGM of accounts at Aramit PLC, was described by investigators as Saifuzzaman’s designated officer in charge of acquiring and managing assets abroad. He too was arrested during the inquiry.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, a court ordered the issuance of Interpol red notices against Saifuzzaman and Rukmila.