Kuwait’s Public Prosecutor has approached the Central Bank to freeze the bank accounts of Lakshmipur lawmaker Md Shahid Islam alias Papul and his company, Kuwaiti media reported.
Papul, an independent member of parliament elected from Lakshmipur 2 constituency, was arrested by Kuwait authorities on June 7 in Kuwait City on charges of human trafficking and money laundering, reports Arab News.
In a report published on Saturday, the news portal said the financial balance of Papul’s company in Kuwait was around Tk138cr (5 million Kuwaiti dinars), including Tk82cr (3 million Kuwaiti dinars) as the company’s capital.
The report also mentioned that the prosecutors made the move to stop the suspect from withdrawing money from these accounts as these are suspicious, and will need to be recovered if the charges are proven in court.
Earlier, the public prosecution department denied bail to Papul and sent to him to custody.
Later on June 16, Kuwaiti news reports said Papul revealed three Kuwaiti high officials’ name, who had financial dealings with him during the ongoing interrogation in the gulf state.
Papul’s detailed confession included providing 1.1 million Kuwaiti dinars to a high level official of one of the ministries, a civil servant, and an official of the interior ministry, reported Arab Times.
The prosecution decided to continue the detention of Papul and Murtaza Mamun, a close associate of Papul, for human trafficking and money laundering to complete the investigation.
Kuwaiti media have also accused Papul of trading visas and siphoning off money to the US for laundering.
According to Al Qabas, Papul is a member of a three-man racket whose other members include another Bangladeshi MP, whose wife is also an MP from the seats reserved for women.
It added that the trio occupied sensitive positions in three major companies that brought over 20,000 Bangladeshi workers into Kuwait in exchange for large sums of money believed to be in excess of 50 million dinars.
In February, Papul dismissed as “false and imaginary” allegations that he trafficked people to Kuwait.
He told reporters, “He was not even involved in manpower export, let alone human trafficking.”