ACC to sue ex-envoy Khairuzzaman

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to file a case against former Bangladesh high commissioner to Malaysia Mohamed Khairuzzaman for embezzling Tk 1.58 crore during his tenure in the Southeast Asian country.

The national anti-graft agency took the decision in a meeting held in March.

ACC Public Relations Officer Muhammad Arif Sadeq told The Business Post that there are many allegations, including the misappropriation of money, against Khairuzzaman.

“A case will be filed in this regard very soon,” he added.

According to the ACC officials, Mohamed Khairuzzaman served as the high commissioner in Malaysia between September 1, 2007 and February 28, 2009.

During the period, he had abused power and was involved in multiple irregularities and corruption.

The Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the allegations, they said. 

In February, Malaysian immigration police arrested Khairuzzaman, who has been living in the country as a refugee for more than a decade, from his residence in the Ampang area of Kuala Lumpur.

Khairuzzaman, a retired army major, was one of the prime accused in the 1975 jail killing case and later acquitted before being appointed as Bangladesh's high commissioner to Malaysia in 2007 during the caretaker government.

After the Awami League-led government came to power in 2009, he was recalled to Dhaka.

But Khairuzzaman did not return and obtained a UN refugee card valid until 2024 in Kuala Lumpur and continued to stay there.

On February 15 this year, the Malaysian High Court granted an interim order against the immigration department from deporting the former diplomat to Dhaka.

The High Court also set May 20 to hear Khairuzzaman’s habeas corpus bid.