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It is looking into claims of acquisition of illegal assets and money laundering
Published : 23 Jun 2024, 04:33 PM
The Anti-Corruption Commission, or ACC, has initiated investigations into allegations of illicit wealth accumulation by revenue officer Motiur Rahman following public scrutiny after a relative attempted to buy a goat for Tk 1.5 million before Eid-ul-Azha.
ACC Secretary Khorsheda Yasmin told reporters on Sunday that the committee, led by ACC Deputy Director Md Anwar Hossain, will look into the allegations of Motiur Rahman's acquisition of assets 'beyond known sources of income'.
The commission decided to form the committee on Jun 4 to investigate the allegations of "acquiring illegal wealth and money laundering through corruption", she said.
The committee members have already started work.
Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal President Motiur Rahman was removed from the National Board of Revenue, or NBR, on Sunday and attached to the Internal Resources Division.
Motiur, an officer of the 11th BCS (Customs and Excise), was also serving as a government-nominated director on the board of the state-owned Sonali Bank.
Sonali Bank Chairman Ziaul Siddiqui said a decision has been made to remove him from that post as well.
A man named Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat made a Facebook post about his intent to buy a goat for Tk 1.5 million from Sadiq Agro in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, drawing intense social media scrutiny.
Many people questioned how Ifat could afford such an extravagant Eid sacrifice and wondered at his source of income. Revenue official Motiur was alleged to be his father.
The revelation prompted further questions on how the son of a government official could afford the goat.
Ifat did not end up buying the goat. Sadiq Agro owner Mohammad Imran Hossain claimed that Ifat had booked the goat for Tk 100,000 but did not pay the remaining price.
Ifat fired back that his claim of buying the goat was a publicity stunt to draw attention to Sadiq Agro.
Motiur added fuel to the fire when he denied that Ifat was his son. In a television interview, he claimed that he had only one son and that it was not Ifat.
Afterwards, information about Ifat's identity and family arrangement began to be posted on Facebook. Pictures of Motiur and other members of his family with Ifat were uncovered.
At one point Nizam Uddin Hazari, Feni-2 MP, appeared on a television programme and claimed that Ifat was Motiur’s son from his second marriage.
Motiur's first wife Laila Kaniz Lucky was a former education cadre officer who left her government job and entered politics. She is now the chairman of Raipura Upazila Parishad in Narsingdi.
Before his appointment to the tribunal, Motiur worked at the Bangladesh Commercial Council in Brussels, the Chattogram Customs and Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU), and has served as VAT commissioner.
Motiur entered the civil service in 1994 as an officer in the 11th BCS (Customs and Excise).
Throughout a 30-year career, he has been investigated for graft by the ACC.
In an interview given to a private TV channel, he said: “The ACC has investigated me four times and found that I did not engage in any corruption.”
In addition to his government job, Motiur is involved in business and has invested in the stock market. Regarding his massive income, he said: “I have shares in a group of companies who own 300 acres of land. I have investments in some factories. But I do not own all of the 300 acres, nor the entirety of the factories. Our family has only invested.”
Motiur was a student in the Department of Finance at Dhaka University and is a government-nominated director of the state-owned Sonali Bank.
On Feb 1, 2022, the Ministry of Finance appointed him as Sonali Bank director for a three-year term.
