A Kuwait court on Thursday sentenced Laxmipur-2 independent MP Mohammad Shahid Islam Papul to four years’ jail in a case related to human trafficking, residency visa trading and money laundering.
The court also fined the MP 1.90 million dinars (305,286,465.78 Tk), reports Al Qabas, a newspaper of Kuwait.
The Criminal Court headed by Counselor Abdullah Al-Othman awarded the verdict.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Kuwait "detained" Papul, Managing Director and CEO of a company there, on June 6 and sent him to jail.
On June 21, the Public Prosecutor of Kuwait approached the Central Bank of Kuwait to freeze the bank accounts of the Laxmipur MP.
The financial balance of his company amounts to about 5 million Kuwait dinars, including 3 million dinars as company’s capital, reported the Arab Times.
Besides, on June 9, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Bangladesh served notices to MP Papul, and his family members, seeking their wealth statements.
They were asked to submit their copies of passports, national ID cards, TINs and income tax returns within 15 days.
The ACC also sought income tax documents of Papul, his family and his sister-in-law from the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on June 18.
On August 13, Abul Foyej Bhuiyan, a candidate (independent) of the 11th parliamentary election filed the writ petition with the High Court (HC) challenging the legality of MP Papul’s post as he has been accused of providing fake documents and submitting fake education certificates.
On August 18, the High Court asked the government to explain why Laxmipur-2 should not be expelled and his seat declared vacant.
Papul has submitted his fake educational certificate which is a violation to the Representation of the People Order 1972.
