A Chittagong court has sentenced two officials and a contractor of the Department of Livestock Services to one year and nine months in jail for embezzling Tk10 lakh in the Goat Development Project.
Judge Munshi Abdul Majid of Chittagong Divisional Special Judge's Court handed down the verdict on Monday.
The convicts are Mohammad Ali Akbar, former assistant director of the DAR, Alek Mandal, then deputy program coordinator of the Goat Development Program, and Mohammad Mahbub Alam, contractor of the project and owner of Alam Trading Corporation.
Confirming the matter, Public Prosecutor Mahmudul Haque Mahmud of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said the accused were present in the court when the verdict was announced and were sent to jail later.
The court sentenced the convicts to one year imprisonment, a total fine of Tk11 lakh, and three months each for non-payment under Section 409 of the Penal Code.
Mahmudul further said that, under Section 477 of the Penal Code, they were sentenced to six months’ rigorous imprisonment, a fine of Tk50,000 and one more month for non-payment of the fine.
On the other hand, under Section 5 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, each of them was sentenced to three months imprisonment, a fine of Tk20,000 and one more month imprisonment for non-payment.
According to the case, the accused embezzled a bill of Tk1,029,572 from the DAR’s Hathazari office in collusion with each other without constructing the boundary wall of the Goat Development Project.
The ACC filed the case against them on June 29, 2009, while the charge sheet was filed on April 26, 2010.
