GK Shamim’s mother sent to jail in a case over illegal wealth

A Dhaka court has sent Ayesha Akter, mother of controversial contractor SM Golam Kibria Shamim, better known as GK Shamim, in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission for amassing wealth beyond their known sources of income.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayes dismissed her bail plea and ordered her to jail after she surrendered before the court on Tuesday.  

“Why will the woman be punished because of her son’s business? She is old and sick,” Ayesha’s lawyer Md Mizanur Rahman said during the court hearing. ACC lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kazol opposed her bail plea. 

The judge had previously issued an arrest warrant against Ayesha following the charges pressed against her by the anti-graft watchdog on Nov 16 last year. 

ACC Deputy Director Md Salahuddin filed the case against Shamim and his mother for amassing Tk 2.97 billion in illegal wealth. The national anti-graft agency alleged that the income tax documents submitted by Shamim showed his wealth worth Tk 402.1 million but it did not find any legal source of income.

Shamim, who made a fortune as a contractor and identified himself as a Jubo League leader, was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion following a raid on his business in Dhaka’s Niketon in 2019.

The elite force seized about Tk 20 million in cash, Tk 1.75 billion worth of fixed-deposit receipt or FDR savings, alcohol and firearms during the raid amid a crackdown on the illegal casino business.