The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) conducted a raid at the office of Aramit Group, a company owned by former state minister for land Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, who is currently absconding abroad.
During the operation, Jahangir Alam, assistant general manager (AGM) of Aramit PLC, was arrested along with Tk8,376,730 in cash.
The raid took place on Wednesday at Aramit Group’s office in the Kallurghat Heavy Industrial Area under Chandgaon police station in Chittagong city.
ACC lawyer Mokarram Hossain confirmed to Bangla Tribune that Jahangir Alam is an accused in an ACC case.
He added that during the operation, several checkbooks along with cash were recovered.
It was reported that Tk1.76 crore had been withdrawn from four banks using 11 cheques issued in the name of the absconding former minister, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed.
Original copies of the cheques signed by Saifuzzaman Chowdhury were recovered from Jahangir Alam.
He has been accused of withdrawing the funds without the owner’s permission in the absence of the company head.
ACC sources said that in the past week, Tk1 crore was withdrawn from several branches of Islami Bank, Tk3 crore from Janata Bank, Tk3.6 crore from Sonali Bank, and Tk1 crore from Meghna Bank.
Jahangir Alam claimed that the money was withdrawn to cover legal expenses for two bank officials previously arrested in a money laundering case.
The two officials in question were Abdul Aziz and Utpal Pal, both AGMs of Aramit PLC, who were arrested on September 17 in connection with the money laundering case. However, the ACC suspects that the recent withdrawal of Tk1.76 crore may also be linked to embezzlement or further laundering activities.