Dhaka, Apr 3 (bdnews24.com) — A Dhaka court Thursday sentenced Janakantha editor Atiqullah Khan Masud to 13 years in prison on charges of amassing illegal wealth and concealing information his wealth statement.
Judge Md Sirajul Islam of the Special Judge's Court-7, set up on the Jatiya Sangsad premises, also fined him Tk 10 lakh or another year in prison on failure to pay the fine.
The judge ordered authorities to confiscate all his illegal assets.
Masud's sentence comprises two separate terms, of 10 years for accumulating illegal wealth and three years for concealing wealth information, which are to run consecutively.
The court also sentenced Masud's wife Shamima A Khan to three years in jail for abetting her husband.
The same court on March 6, 9 and 20 sentenced Masud to a total of 21 years, seven years each in three separate fraud cases.
Masud is currently in jail after joint forces arrested the chairman of Globe Janakantha Group on Mar 7 last year. His latest sentence will be effective from the day of his arrest
His wife is fugitive. Her sentence will also be effective from the day of her arrest or surrender.
The Anticorruption Commission filed the case with Ramna Police Station against Masud, his wife and two sons Mishal A Khan and Jishal A Khan on Sept 30 last year.
According to the case details, Atiqullah obtained wealth of Tk 1.14 crore beyond his known sources of income and suppressed wealth of Tk 1.41 crore in his wealth statement to the antigraft watchdog.
His wife and two sons were accused of abetting him, though the two sons were later dropped from the charge sheet.
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