Published : 09 Feb 2017, 08:46 PM
Updated : 19 Oct 2022, 03:27 PM
On Thursday, the ACC arrested Russell in the capital's Gulshan and Chowdhury in Paribagh.
They were taken to court where counsels pleaded for bail while the ACC sought a seven-day remand to interrogate Russell.
The court turned down the bail petitions as well as the remand plea, but said investigators will be able to question Russell at the prison gate for two days in the next five working days.
On Wednesday, the ACC started the case against eight persons with the Motijheel Police in Dhaka.
The six others are Russell’s brother Ashfaq Aziz Rubel and former RAJUK members SD Foyez, AKM Waheedul Islam, FM Jafrullah, HM Jahirul Haque and Rezaul Karim Tarafdar.
According to the case documents, the suspects conspired to allot 16.5 decimal land plots each to Partex Group chairman's sons Russell and Rubel against the public interest.
Showkat Aziz Russell
Iqbal Uddin Chowdhury
He also sits on the board of United Commercial Bank and is a director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
His brother Rubel is in charge of several business organisations of the Partex Group. He sits on the board of City Bank.
A former housing and public works secretary, Chowdhury served as chairman of RAJUK between 2001 and 2004, ACC Deputy Director (Public Relations) Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told bdnews24.com.
He was behind bars during the military-backed caretaker regime in a graft case over the sale of 18 government-owned buildings below market price.
A former president of the Gulshan Club, Russell is accused of tax evasion in a case initiated by the National Board of Revenue. His father and other family members have been also named in the case.
Partex Group Chairman MA Hashem, a former BNP MP from Noakhali, stands accused in several cases including for corruption, land grabbing and tax dodging. The trials are yet to be finished.
MA Hashem. File photo
Hashem joined the BNP before the 2001 general elections and got elected to Parliament from the Noakhali-2 constituency.
After the military-installed caretaker administration assumed office in 2007, Hashem along with several other businessmen and politicians were arrested on charges of corruption.
He was accused of making windfall gains using his political clout.
After his release from prison on bail the next year, Hashem announced he was quitting the BNP.
He had also claimed that BNP chief Khaleda Zia had 'forced' her to join the party.
The business tycoon, who has not been active in politics for the last eight years, wrote to the party's secretary general over his resignation in December last year.
In the recent years, he also made changes to his business empire. He formed Amber Group after splitting businesses under the Partex Group and Partex Star Group.
MA Hashem with his wife, sons and daugthers-in-law while inaugurating the headquarters of Partex Cable on Feb 6, 2017. Photo: Facebook/Partex Cables Ltd
The family own stakes in City Bank, United Commercial Bank, Janata Insurance and IDLC Finance.
Hashem's eldest son Aziz Al Kaiser Tito is Vice-Chairman of Partex Star Group. He also sits on the boards of several Partex companies.
His second son Aziz Al Mahmood is Managing Director of Partex Star Group. He also heads the board of IDLC Finance.
His two other sons Aziz Al Masud and Ashfaq Aziz Rubel are in charge of several other Partex businesses.
Showkat Aziz Russell, who was arrested on Thursday, heads the Amber Group. He and his father sit on the board of United Commercial Bank.
Russell's wife Farahnaz Chowdhury is a Director of Amber Group and Janata Insurance.
Kaiser and his wife Tabassum Kaiser, Rubel and his wife Syeda Shaireen Aziz and Mahmood's wife Savera H Mahmood are members of the Board of Directors of the City Bank.
Masud's wife Ji Unn Lee is a foreign national.
