SC grants bail to Apan Jewellers owners in money laundering case

The Supreme Court has upheld the High Court decision bail to the three owners of Apan Jewellers in two money laundering cases.

Among the three brothers, Gulzar Ahmed and Azad Ahmed are now free to leave prison. Dildar Ahmed Selim, the son of suspect Shafat Ahmed in the Banani rape case, is still in prison over two other cases.

The state had appealed the High Court’s decision granting them bail. But a five-member appellate bench led by acting Chief Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah scrapped the state’s petition on Monday and upheld the bail.

Five cases, including charges of money laundering, were filed against the three brothers by detective police at the Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Ramna and Uttara police stations in Dhaka, state representative Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hossain Shaju. The two cases at the Gulshan Police Station were against Gulzar Ahmed and Azad Ahmed.

“They received bail in the two cases so there is nothing preventing them from leaving jail.”

Dildar Ahmed is accused in three cases at the Dhanmondi, Ramna and Uttara police stations. Though the Appellate Division upheld the bail by the High Court in one of the cases, the bail hearing in the other cases has been adjourned for a month. As a result, Dildar will have to remain in jail for now.

On Dec 14, the High Court granted bail to Apan Jewellers owners and brothers Dildar Ahmed Selim, Gulzar Ahmed and Azad Ahmed. It also adjourned two cases against Dildar Ahmed at the Uttara and Dhanmondi police stations for one month.

The state challenged the bail and a recess chamber judge stayed the bail until Jan 2 for a hearing by the Appellate Division. The Appellate Division then ruled on the bail on Monday.

Dildar’s son Shafat Ahmed stands accused of raping two university girls at a hotel in Banani and is currently behind bars.

The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate opened an inquiry into allegations of “illegal transactions” against the Apan Jewellers owners a few days after the arrest of Shafat and his friends in May.

It confiscated 15.3 maunds of gold and 7,369 pieces of diamond jewellery from different outlets of the brand and sent them to the Bangladesh Bank later that month.

The customs filed five cases against the three brothers on Aug 12 following the completion of its investigation.

On Aug 22, Dildar and his brothers secured ad-interim bail for four weeks from the High Court.

The court issued arrest warrants against them on Oct 23 for not appearing at a hearing. They were sent to jail after they surrendered before the court.