Apan owner: We all do business this way

One of the owners of Apan Jewellers, Dildar Ahmed, has said he runs a legal business and all gold traders in Bangladesh do business in the exact same manner. Dildar, the father of rape accused Shafat Ahmed, was speaking to journalists yesterday after meeting Customs Intelligence and Investigation Department (CIID) officials in their Kakrail office. “We do business the same way everybody else in the gold business does. If my shop is closed, then all the gold shops should be closed.” he said. CIID has seized 498kg of gold and 61g of diamond from Apan Jewellers outlets and says the company has failed to produce necessary papers for the seized items. Three brothers - Dildar Ahmed, Gulzar Ahmed and Azad Ahmed - met CIID officials in the afternoon. “We have been asked to show papers for our goods. It is not possible to produce all the documents immediately,” Dildar said outside the office after their interview. CIID officials sealing off Apan Jewellers outlet at Suvastu Tower in Gulshan on Sunday, May 14, 2017/Courtesy He had sought 15 days of time to produce the paperwork, he said. CIID has given him till May 23. “This is not an illegal business. I have been in business for 40 years; Apan earns the bread for 200,000 families,” he said. He said Apan regularly pays VAT and taxes. There has been no gold import in the last five years and all the gold here is recycled from resold jewelleries, Dildar said. “Gold import is illegal,” he added. Apan had imported the diamond and had the papers to show for it, he said. “When I was the secretary of the gold traders' association we held discussions about a policy for the gold business, but the authorities have failed to implement anything,” he said. His lawyers and the association would move to push for a policy to be introduced, he added. Asked whether he was facing any sort of persecution, he said: “I will not say that. If I have made a mistake I ask the nation for their forgiveness.”

'Raids based on specific allegations'

CIID Director General Moinul Khan said raids at the five Apan Jewellers outlets had been carried out based on specific allegations. “There is no reason for honest businessmen to be afraid. “We have seized 498kg gold from their outlets and they have not been able to produce the paperwork for it,” he said. "Apan owners sought time and we gave them till May 23." The DG said gold import is not illegal in the country, traders can import gold with the central bank's permission. “We have sent a letter to the Bangladesh Bank asking them to hold regular auctions of the gold that we seize from smugglers,” he said. The central bank had been asked to expedite the process so that gold traders would be able to acquire gold easily, he added. Apan Jewellers has said at least 10kg of the gold belongs to its customers, Moinul said. “These customers will be able to collect their gold from our Kakrail office on Monday April 22 from 2pm to 5pm by producing relevant documents,” he said. Managing Director of Banani’s Raintree hotel Shah Adnan Harun, who was also summoned by CIID for storing liquor without licence, sought more time to appear before it. CIID asked Harun to appeal before it on May 23 when his lawyers—Moahmmad Jahangir Kabir and Riaz Jhan—sought one month time. CIID started an inquiry into the finances of Apan Jewellers’ owner Dildar Ahmed and his son Shafaat Ahmed, after it emerged that Shafaat and four of his associates allegedly raped two students at the Raintree hotel. The victims lodged a case with Banani police on May 6. The case is now being investigated by Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Women Support and Investigation Centre.