Incumbent Awami League lawmaker Enamul Haque yesterday claimed that he had accumulated wealth from his businesses and that he did not have any illegal wealth.
“The ACC summoned me to take my statements with regard to alleged accumulation of illegal wealth,” the Rajshahi 4 MP told reporters emerging from an ACC interrogation at its headquarters.
“I do not have any wealth beyond what is mentioned in the affidavit I submitted before the Election Commission. All those are legal. The statement that I submitted with the Election Commission was authentic. I am sure about it and can challenge the allegations,” he said.
ACC Deputy Director and Inquiry Official Jatan Kumer Ray questioned Enamul from 9am to 10:30am, Public Relations Officer Pranab Kumer Bhattacharya told reporters.
However, ACC sources said the lawmaker came to the office at Segunbagicha around 7:30am, apparently to avoid media questions. The interrogation began at 8:30am, though the commission usually opens offices at 10am.
Replying to another query, the lawmaker said: “I was a successful businessperson and then I became a politician. So, my wealth can grow normally. It is not an unusual rise.”
ACC sources say the commission has already found that the lawmaker accumulated huge amount of wealth through illegal means.
During the interrogation, incumbent lawmaker of the Awami League from Cox’s Bazar, Abdur Rahman Bodi, former housing and public works state minister Abdul Mannan and former state minister for water resources Mahbubur Rahman too denied the allegations of accumulating illegal wealth brought against them. However, the trio were sued by the ACC on August 22 since the allegations were primarily proved against them.
Enamul’s annual income was Tk20 lakh from his salary and allowances in 2008, which in 2013 reached nearly Tk50 lakh from agriculture, rented properties and other businesses. His wife owned Tk8.34 crore in movable property in 2013, up from Tk2.89 crore in 2008, according to the affidavits.
MP Enamul is the owner of Ena Group, which has 10 sister concerns including a real estate company named Ena Properties Ltd. The realtor has finished at least 31 multi-storey building projects and is implementing another 17 projects in Dhaka and abroad.
During the inquiry, the ACC did not find Enamul’s legal source of income for operating such major housing projects. Therefore, it questioned him yesterday to have his statements, sources said.
The probe official would soon submit their report to the commission after adding the statements collected.
Enamul was criticised soon after the city development authorities awarded him a contract for the construction of apartments in Uttara for middle-income people, violating the Representation of the People’s Order (RPO).
As per the RPO, a sitting MP cannot do business with the government because of the conflict of interests. Anyone who violates the provision would be disqualified to continue as a lawmaker.
The deal was supposed to be cancelled in January this year since the project could not be implemented in time.
After being elected as a lawmaker in 2008, Enamul came under media spotlight during the Awami League’s previous term as he violated the same RPO provision – Ena Properties in 2009 signed a deal with Rajshahi City Corporation for constructing City Centre on the RCC land.
The ACC began its inquiry into Enamul’s alleged illegal wealth in January this year, along with other six politicians. As the ACC goes deeper into the inquiry and found primary evidence of accumulation of illegal wealth by the lawmaker, in March it asked Enamul and his wife Tahura Haque to submit a furnished wealth statement within seven days.
However, Enamul ignored the notice and sought extension of time.
The ACC later granted him time until March 31. The ruling party lawmaker failed to file the statement again.
According to the ACC Act 2004, the commission can sue someone if he/she ignores its notice. The offender, in such cases, will be liable to serve up to three years in jail.
