A court has sentenced Abdul Malek, a former driver in the Directorate General of Health Services' (DGHS) transport pool, to five years of rigorous imprisonment, while his wife, Nargis Begum, has been sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment.
Judge Zakaria Hossain of Dhaka's Special Judge Court 6 delivered the verdict in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday for acquiring wealth beyond their known sources of income, reports Bangla Tribune.
Both were fined Tk20,000 each, and in the event of non-payment, they will serve an additional three months of simple imprisonment.
The accused were found to have amassed assets worth over Tk1.1 crore, which were inconsistent with their known sources of income.
The court ordered these assets to be confiscated in favour of the state, as reported by ACC Prosecutor Asaduzzaman Rana.
At the time of the verdict, Abdul Malek was brought to court from prison, while Nargis, who was out on bail, appeared in court.
After the verdict, they were taken back to jail with arrest warrants.
The case was filed on February 14, 2021, by Syed Nazrul Islam, an assistant director of the ACC, against Abdul Malek and Nargis Begum for acquiring immovable and movable properties worth over Tk1.1 crore.
The investigation was completed, and on October 27 of the same year, the charge sheet was submitted to the court.
The court framed charges against the accused on May 11, 2022, and the trial began.
Previously, on September 20, 2021, Abdul Malek was sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment in two counts under the Arms Act.
Notably, on March 23 last year, in a separate case involving the illegal acquisition of assets worth Tk1.5 crore and concealing assets worth Tk93 lakh from the ACC, Abdul Malek was sentenced to 13 years in prison by a Dhaka court.
Abdul Malek was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on September 20, 2020, in the Kamarpur area of Turag Thana, Dhaka, based on a tip-off.
He was found in possession of a foreign pistol, a magazine, five rounds of ammunition, Tk1.5 lakh in counterfeit notes, a laptop, and a mobile phone.
