Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will submit charge sheet soon against expelled Juba League leader and casino kingpin Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat in a case filed for acquiring illegal wealth worth Taka 222 crore and laundering them to Malaysia and Singapore.
In a meeting on Sunday, ACC approved of the charge sheet.
ACC commissioner (Investigation) Mozammel Haque Khan on Monday told The Business Post that "ACC approved charge sheet against Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat for allegedly acquiring illegal wealth and laundering money worth Taka 222 crore earned from casino business, gambling and tender manipulation. He has been found involved with money laundering to Malaysia and Singapore"
The charge sheet reads, "Samrat bought a 4250 square feet flat in Kakrail area using his brother Farid Ahmed Chowdhury and Mustaba Zaman, one of his allies in his grim business. Samrat showed to have wealth worth Taka 3.40 crore in income tax return without showing any source of income which has been actually earned by illegal means as per ACC investigation. He was found to be involved with money transactions in three casinos in Malaysia and Singapore. In Singapore alone Samrat invested 2.3 crore Singaporean dollars. Through various illegal activities, Samrat acquired property worth Taka 222 crore at home and abroad and laundered around Taka 219.8 crore in Malaysia and Singapore.”
Earlier, ACC filed two cases against Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat on 12 November, 2019 over the allegations of acquiring illegal wealth worth Taka 2.94 crore. On the other hand, his close aid Anamul Haque Arman, Vice President of Juba League Dhaka South unit was accused of acquiring Taka 2.5 crore in another separate case.
As a part of the investigation, ACC last year grilled Samrat who was admitted at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Medical University on health ground.
Law enforcement agency member launched crackdowns on casino business and gambling mainly based in sporting clubs across the country. The drive also stretched to online gambling as well as tender manipulators and arrested number of people who used to run the show under the banner of Juba League in Dhaka city.
Amid the crackdown, ACC decided on September 30, 2019 to launch investigations against 200 people whose names came out in media reports for their controversial actions.
ACC froze properties worth Taka 581 crore from 24 persons who are accused of acquiring illegal wealth through different irregularities including casino business. Among the 24 persons, 17 are from Juba League, youth wing of the ruling party Awami League. An eight-member team of ACC, led by Director Syed Iqbal, is inquiring and investigating into the matters.
sh/wi
