Tarique, Mamun siphoned Tk 20.41cr to Singapore: FBI official
An agency of the US Department of Justice has found Tk 20.41 crore
allegedly siphoned by BNP Senior Vice President Tarique Rahman and his
business associate Giasuddin Al Mamun at a Singapore bank, its
official told a Dhaka court on Wednesday.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the investigation
into the alleged laundering of money responding to a request by
Bangladesh government, its special agent Debra Laprevotte said,
private TV channel ATN News reported.
She was giving statements before the Special Judge's Court-3 in the
capital in the afternoon. This is the first time an FBI agent is
appearing as a witness before a Bangladeshi court.
Before the US official began giving statement, the defence counsels
moved an adjournment petition when the court began around 12:05pm.
As the court rejected the petition and started receiving deposition of
Laprevotte, Mamun's lawyers including Khandaker Mahbub Hossain walked
out of the courtroom objecting the court's move to record the FBI
official's statement. Laprevotte finished her submission around
1:30pm.
Judge Mohammad Mozammel Hossain of Special Judge's Court-3 on Tuesday
granted permission for the FBI official to testify at the trial. The
order came in response to an application submitted by Anisul Huq,
chief counsel for the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Mohammad Ibrahim, an ACC assistant director, filed the case with
Cantonment Police Station in October 2009, accusing Tarique and Mamun
of laundering Tk 20.41 crore to Singapore between 2003 and 2007. The
trial began on September 11 this year.
In his application, the ACC chief counsel Anisul Haq told the court
that the commission, during its anti-graft drive in 2007, had sought
the FBI's help to recover the money siphoned out of the country.In
response, the FBI assigned Laprevotte to aid the Bangladeshi graft
watchdog in its money-laundering probe against Tarique and Mamun.
Mamun was produced before the court during the hearing. He was
arrested in March 2007.Tarique, who was detained on March 7, 2007, and
allowed to go abroad for treatment in July the following year, is
currently in London.
Of the 15 cases against him, this is the first to go to trial in his absence.
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