So Sajeeb Wazed Joy alleges on social media that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party planned to kidnap and kill him in the US, and the Internet breaks down in Bangladesh? Not quite. In this soap operatic political culture, there is far more than meets the eye. The prime minister’s son and ICT adviser brings this allegation after a federal case lasting nearly two years draws to its routine conclusion.
Rizvi Ahmed, a native of Bangladesh living in Connecticut, and his acquaintance Johannes Thaler, also living in Connecticut, were arrested on August 2, 2013. The US Department of Justice has stated that both men pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy, admitting to colluding with former FBI special agent Robert Lustyik to obtain confidential law enforcement data regarding a Bangladeshi political figure. They admitted to soliciting bribes in exchange for federal information from September 2011 to March 2012. The former FBI special agent was arrested on September 17, 2013 and also pleaded guilty to engaging in a bribery scheme.
Lustyik worked in the counter-intelligence squad at White Plains, New York. He was a childhood friend of Johannes Thaler. The entire case started as Rizvi Ahmed wanted a suspicious activity report on a Bangladeshi figure from a rival political party.
In the US, these reports usually deal with potential financial crimes. According to text messages retrieved for the court case, Rizvi Ahmed was asked to pay a $40,000 retainer and $30,000 monthly fees in return for documents to “set up [the victim] and get the inside from the party.” He and Johannes Thaler also admitted that the confidential data would be used to locate and harm the intended victim and others associated with the victim.
Upon reviewing the Southern District Court of New York’s criminal docket for this case, one sees no mention of a plot to kidnap and murder anyone. As Sajeeb Wazed has stated that he provided a victim statement, one can hypothesise that he was the subject of the suspicious activity report that was sought illegally. As certain portions of a court hearing can be closed, the publicly available transcript does not include his name.
However, the fact remains that Rizvi Ahmed has been sentenced only for the bribery scheme, and no one in the US has yet been apprehended for plotting to kidnap and murder anyone affiliated with this case.
Moreover, unless someone is in the witness protection program, where US Marshals provide witnesses with a new identity and location in return for testimony, one does not need to pay an FBI special agent such a huge sum to discover someone’s whereabouts. To find out about a prominent Bangladeshi political figure in the US, simply scan through the multitude of US-based Bangladeshi newspapers, websites, and community events to know all you need to know and then some.
This case was about garnering damaging confidential law-enforcement data on a political rival, and it ended up devastating the lives of the culprits. Rizvi Ahmed has been sentenced to 42 months imprisonment, and Johannes Thaler was given 30 months. Furthermore, former FBI special Agent Lustyik’s sentencing is scheduled for April 30th. In the high-stakes gamble of Bangladeshi politics, even those in the US can wage their lives away.