Published : 02 Oct 2019, 04:11 AM
Updated : 17 Oct 2022, 11:46 AM
It has seized a huge amount of cash and liquor from Salim’s home and office in Dhaka on Monday.
Mamun, a friend and business associate of BNP’s de-facto chief Tarique Rahman, has been in prison since his arrest during the military-backed caretaker government’s term.
Mamun has been named in over 20 cases relating to extortion, corruption, tax evasion and other crimes.
He had also been sentenced to seven years imprisonment and fined Tk 200 million in a separate case of money laundering along with acting BNP chief in exile Tarique, who has been in London for over a decade.
Salim is Chairman of Prodhan Group. It has a company called P24 Gaming that reportedly operates online gambling in the country.
Salim Prodhan
Other organisations owned by Salim include several spas and beauty salons and a law firm.
RAB arrested him at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka when he was about to embark on a Thailand-bound flight on Monday night. Later, the law enforcers launched the raids.
On Tuesday afternoon, RAB-1 Commander Sarwar Bin Quasem said they seized Tk 798,000, seven laptops, foreign currencies worth over Tk 7.76 million of 26 countries, and 48 bottles of liquor from Salim’s residence. They also seized Tk 2.12 million from his office.
In the initial interrogations, Salim admitted to getting involved in illegal online gambling business around a year ago with the help of a North Korean he identified as “Doo”, who Salim came to know in Thailand, according to Quasem.
Salim had moved to Japan with his brother and opened a car business there before travelling to Thailand and starting ship-breaking business.
Salim also admitted to presenting Mamun with a BMW car as a gift, Quasem said. He did not say when Salim gave Mamun the car.
“Salim said he had been sending money to London as well. We are trying to know more about it,” Quasem said.
The elite police unit said it found at least three “gateways” through which Salim deposited the money in three banks, including Commercial Bank of Ceylon.
As much as Tk 90 million was deposited in one of these “gateways” in one month, Quasem said.
