ACC prosecutes Papia and her husband for having ‘illegal wealth‘

The Anti-Corruption Commission or ACC has prosecuted the disgraced Awami League operative Shamima Nur Papia and her husband Mofizur Rahman alias Sumon Chowdhury on charges of gaining assets by illegal means.

Shahin Ara Mumtaz, the deputy director at the anti-graft watchdog, started the case at its Dhaka office on Tuesday, ACC spokesman Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya said.

The couple are accused of amassing over Tk 62.4 million of illegal assets.

The case alleges that Papia paid over Tk 32 million in cash for food, wine, spa, laundry and bar expenses after staying in 25 rooms including the Presidential Suite and Chairman's Suite at The Westin Hotel in Gulshan between Oct 12, 2019 and Feb 22, 2020.

Papia had spent about Tk 4 million for shopping purposes while staying at the hotel. Besides these, she had paid Tk 3 million as house rent – Tk 50,000 monthly - from April 2015 to April 2020. The couple had invested Tk 10 million in a car shop named Car Exchange in Dhaka’s Tejgaon, and Tk 4 million in KMC Car Wash and Auto Solutions, according to the case.

Papia and Sumon have a balance of over Tk 3 million in different banks while the Rapid Action Battalion had recovered over Tk 5.8 million cash from their house earlier. Sumon owns a 2012 model Honda CAV priced Tk 2.2 million.

In all, the couple have over Tk 62.4 million of illegal wealth achieved through criminal activities and beyond known sources. ACC investigators quizzed them on Jul 20.

The law enforcers arrested the expelled Jubo Mahila League leader and her husband on Feb 22 from the airport in Dhaka. She is accused of running a high-class escort business centring the hotel.