Court orders seizure of income tax documents of ex-law minister Anisul Huq

The former minister is accused of possessing Tk 1.46 billion in illicit assets and suspicious transactions across 29 bank accounts

A Dhaka court has ordered the seizure of income tax records belonging to former law minister Anisul Huq.

Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain Galib passed the order on Tuesday, following a plea from the Anti-Corruption Commission, or ACC, the agency’s Court Inspector Amir Hossain confirmed.

Anisul was detained in Dhaka's Sadarghat while attempting to flee the country via waterway on Aug 13.

He was then shown arrested in multiple cases and remanded several times for questioning.

On Monday, the court showed the former minister arrested in the ACC case.

ACC Deputy Director Md Jahangir Alam filed the charges on Wednesday at the commission's Integrated District Office in Dhaka.

The investigation report for the case is due on Mar 20.

The case alleges that Anisul acquired assets worth Tk 1.46 billion through criminal misconduct and abuse of power, which is inconsistent with his known sources of income.

It claims that the former minister was involved in suspicious transactions amounting to Tk 6.65 billion across 29 bank accounts.

He has been charged under Section 27(1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, and Sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012.