The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has found that former Awami League leaders Enamul Haque Enu and his brother Rupon Bhuiyan, transacted over Tk200 crore through their 91 bank accounts. They bought 128 flats in Dhaka with the money acquired from the illegal casino business.
CID's Organized Crime Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Imtiaz Ahmed revealed the information during a press briefing held at its headquarters on Tuesday noon.
He said: “During our investigation, we discovered that the two own as many as 20 houses, 128 flats, and 25 katha of land in and around Dhaka city. But there could be more and we are trying to find that out.
“Tk19 crore was kept in the 91 bank accounts of the two brothers. Wanderers Club, of which Enu was a director and Rupon was a shareholder, started operating as a full fledged casino back in 2014.
“The two bought most of their properties and transacted the huge sums of money from 2014 to 2019. They spent the money earned from the illegal casino business on buying jewelry, land, and different properties. Them being involved in money laundering is still under investigation,” he added.
“Enu and Rupon’s whole family, including their father and other brothers, were involved in the casino business. They came to be known through all their illegal activities,” he said.
Asked about the alleged involvement of Rashid Bhuiyan, brother of the two, the DIG said: “All those involved will be caught and Rashid will be named in the charge sheet for his affiliation with the illegal business.”
‘Jay Gopal Sarkar helped Enu, Rupon in casino business’
With the supervision and help of the former secretary of Wanderers Club, Jay Gopal Sarkar, Enu and Rupon were able to attain their positions at the club and casino business, said DIG Imtiaz.
“Jay was recently arrested. He used to run all the illegal activities using his gold business as a cover.
“Jay would get a significant cut of the money earned everyday from the casino business. In return, he provided all the support necessary to Enu and Rupon,” the CID official added.
Charge sheets within a week
DIG Imtiaz told Dhaka Tribune that the charge sheets for four cases out of five that they are investigating since the casino crackdown, will be submitted within a week.
“There are five money laundering cases against the two. We are very close to concluding the investigation of four. We hope to complete the investigation of the other case by the end of this month.
“Sixteen people will be named in the charge sheet for the case filed with Gandaria police station. In the two cases filed with Sutrapur police station, 14 will be accused in one and 10 in the other.
“We will name 11 individuals in the charge sheet for the case filed with Wari police station,” he added.
He said that all those involved in the illegal casino business with Enu and Rupon will be included in the charge sheets.
“After we are done with these cases, we will start investigating the money laundering aspect of the whole thing, and based on our findings some more new cases could be lodged,” he added.
Asked about what the punishment would be for committing such crimes, he said: “According to our law, four to 12 years of imprisonment for people involved in money laundering.”
Earlier on February 25, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) conducted an overnight raid at a house on Lalmohan Saha street in Old Dhaka and recovered huge amounts of hard cash from five safes.
RAB also seized in their raid, foreign currencies of US$9,300, Malaysian Ringgit 174, Indian Rs5,350, Chinese Yuan 1,195, Thai Baht 11,560, UAE Dirham 100, an FDR worth Tk5 crore, gold jewellery of around 1kg, as well as casino equipment.
The two cases were filed with Wari police station against Enu and his brother Rupon two days after the seizure of the money and other valuables from their Dhaka residence.
The cases were filed under the Special Powers Act and the Money Laundering Prevention Act-2012.
Later, the case under the Money Laundering Prevention Act was handed over to the CID.
