BNP leader’s son to go to prison for bribing FBI for information on political rival

A US court has sentenced a Bangladesh national to three and a half years in prison for bribing a FBI special agent to collect information about a prominent opposition leader in Bangladesh.

Rizve Ahmed Caesar, 36, son of Mohammad Ullah Mamun, vice-president of BNP’s cultural wing JaSaS, was sentenced by US District Judge Vincent L Briccetti of the Southern District of New York on Wednesday.

A Connecticut-resident, Caesar, had earlier pleaded guilty to bribing Special Agent Robert Lustyik for confidential documents and secret information of US law enforcing agencies in between September 2011 through March 2012.

He requested the confidential information to help him locate and harm his political rival and others associated with the intended victim, a US Justice department statement said.

He is currently on bail and will have to report to jail authorities on Apr 20.

Spokesperson of US Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York, Queliz Jennifer told bdnews24.com that the court also sentenced the deal’s middleman, Johannes Thaler, 51, to 30 months in prison.

Both of them were arrested on Aug 13, 2013 . In October, they pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud.

Robert Lustyik

Johannes Thaler

Lustyik pleaded guilty on Dec 23, 2014, to all five counts against him in the indictment: conspiracy to engage in a bribery scheme; soliciting bribes by a public official; conspiracy to defraud the citizens of the US and the FBI; theft of government property; and unauthorised disclosure of a Suspicious Activity Report. 

He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30, 2015 and could face up to 25 years in prison.

The justice department has not divulged the identity of the person whose information Caesar was trying to collect.