Customs Intelligence and Investigation Department is on the look out for Jaaz Multimedia owner Abdul Aziz. His brother, MA Kader, chairman of Crescent Leather Products Ltd and Crescent Tanneries Ltd, has been arrested already.
On Wednesday, customs intelligence of National Board of Revenue (NBR) filed three separate cases against 17 people, including four leather businessmen and 13 bankers, for allegedly laundering off Tk 919.56 crore from Bangladesh. They reportedly laundered the money through fake exports.
Customs Intelligence and Investigation Department (CIID) of NBR filed the money laundering cases with Chawkbazar model police station against the owners of Crescent Leather Products Ltd, Rimex Footwear Ltd and Crescent Tanneries Ltd, and officials of Janata Bank.
On the same day, CIID also arrested Kader, chairman of Crescent Leather Products Ltd and Crescent Tanneries Ltd, the two subsidiary of Crescent Group, from Kakrail in Dhaka.
The three other accused are Kader’s wife, Crescent Leather and Crescent Tanneries Managing Director Sultana Begum Moni; his brother, Rimex Footwear Ltd Chairman Abdul Aziz, who also happens to be the owner of movie production house Jaaz Multimedia; and Rimex Managing Director Litul Jahan Mira.
At a press briefing in his office on Wednesday, NBR Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said: “We will place Kader before the court today (Thursday).”
He also said that the CIID had filed the cases under Money Laundering Prevention (Amendment) Act 2015 after gathering specific proof of money laundering by the three firms.
The NBR has also requested the relevant detective agencies to issue an alert so that the accused cannot leave the country.
The bankers accused in the cases are Janata Bank senior officers Abdullah Al Mamun, Moniruzzaman and Saiduzzaman, principal officer Ruhul Amin, senior principal officers Mogreb Ali and Khairul Amin, assistant general manager Ataur Rahman Sarker, and others.
The other bank officials are deputy general managers Md Iqbal, AKM Asaduzzaman and Kazi Rois Uddin Ahmed, general managers Rezaul Karim, Fakhrul Alam (now deputy managing director of Bangladesh Krishi Bank) and Jakir Hossain (now DMD of Sonali Bank).
The accused bankers have been temporarily suspended from their posts.
Mosharraf also stated that customs intelligence had found that Crescent Leather Ltd, Rimex Footwear Ltd and Crescent Tanneries Ltd laundered foreign currency equivalent to TK422.46 crore, TK481.26 crore and TK15.84 crore respectively.
In late 2017, Janata Bank Imamganj corporate branch purchased a number of export bills from the three firms, but export proceeds in foreign currency worth Tk919.56 crore against 460 export bills were not sent home until October 2018, according to CIID.
