Former FBI agent jailed for taking bribe in Joy abduction conspiracy

A US court has sentenced to jail Robert Lustyik, the former FBI agent who took bribes in return for sensitive information from BNP activist Rizve Ahmed Caesar, for conspiring to abduct Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy.

New York Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 15 Sept 2015, 11:22 AM
Updated : 15 Sept 2015, 01:57 PM

District Judge Vincent L Briccetti of the Southern District of New York on Monday sentenced him to five years in prison and a two-year probation after serving the sentence.

The former special agent is already serving a 10-year term in prison and the new sentence will be carried out after this one ends. He will be in prison for 15 years, US Attorney Preet Bharara said.

Caesar, 36, son of Mohammad Ullah Mamun, vice-president of BNP’s cultural wing JaSaS, was sentenced to three-and-a-half-year prison term on Mar 4. He started serving his sentence on Apr 20.

A Connecticut resident, Caesar earlier pleaded guilty to bribing Special Agent Lustyik for confidential documents and secret information of US law-enforcing agencies between September 2011 and March 2012.

He requested the confidential information to help him locate and harm his political rival and others associated with the intended victim, a US Justice Department statement said.

The deal’s middleman, Johannes Thaler, 51, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Both of them were arrested on Aug 13, 2013. In October, they pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud.

Although the Justice Department records kept the identity of the intended victim a secret, several media in Bangladesh claimed that it was Joy. 

The matter prompted discussions in Bangladesh Parliament. Ruling Awami League MPs alleged that the BNP leadership was involved in a conspiracy to ‘kidnap’ the prime minister’s ICT affairs advisor.

Joy accused BNP leaders of conspiring to ‘abduct and kill him’ in a Facebook post on Mar 9 this year.

The Awami League chief’s son said he provided the victim statement in court on Mar 4 before Ceaser was sentenced to prison.