Former Gulshan Police Station chief, wife sentenced to prison for graft

Firoz Kabir was sentenced to 6 years in prison while his wife Sabrina Ahmed got four years

A Dhaka court has sentenced former Gulshan Police Station chief Firoz Kabir to six years in prison and his wife Sabrina Ahmed to four years in prison in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman delivered the verdict in the presence of both the accused on Wednesday.

As the two were out on bail, arrest warrants were issued and they were then sent to prison.

The court also ordered the government to confiscate property worth approximately Tk 8.72 million in relation to the crime. In addition to the prison sentence, Kabir was also fined double the amount involved in the graft case, or Tk 17.4 million. A failure to pay within 60 working days of the verdict will be dealt with according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, according to Saiful Islam Mithu, bench assistant to the court.

From Jan 1, 2012 to May 31, 2016, Firoz deposited nearly Tk 40 million in his current accounts at the Gulshan branches of AB Bank, Dutch Bangla Bank, NRB Commercial Bank, Islami Bank, and BRAC Bank, and in his wife Sabrina Ahmed’s account at Dutch Bangla Bank, according to the verdict. These deposits exceeded his known sources of income.

Their bank accounts were also involved in a disproportionately large number of transactions. While opening most of these accounts, Firoz cited the source of the funds as his wages, but the type and amount of transactions were not in line with his salary and allowances.

The court ruled against them because they failed to produce a satisfactory explanation or evidence for the source of the money, the verdict said.

ACC Assistant Director Syed Ataul Kabir filed a case over graft and bribery against the couple on Oct 3, 2017. They were indicted in 2019 after law enforcers submitted their investigation report.