Report in Canadian Media: Niko paid bribe for Bapex deal
Mamun got $10,000 to win Hawa Bhaban nod
Sharier Khan with Emran Hossain
A Canadian magazine revealed last August that Niko, a company of that country, had paid half a million dollars to Hawa Bhaban men to get a controversial joint venture deal with Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration & Production Company Limited (Bapex) in 2003.
Hawa Bhaban used to be the political office of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia who was also the prime minister back then, but it doubled as an alternative power centre revolving around her elder son Tarique Rahman. One of Tarique's close friends is Giasuddin Al Mamun, who became quite influential and wealthy during the last BNP-led regime.
The ROB Magazine -- a supplement of one of the leading Canadian dailies Globe & Mail -- quoting Canadian police records of Mamun's statements, said initially Niko offered him a retainer of US$10,000 to make the deal successful.
But Mamun ultimately failed to make the deal happen on his own. The report "Niko Resources: Ottawa's corruption test case" by reporter Greg McArthur, published on August 26, 2011 states, "As a mere buddy of the Prime Minister's son, there was only so much he could do. 'My power is 50%,' he said."
Businessman Selim Bhuiyan, who separately gave confessional statements to a court in Dhaka, said Niko deposited more than half a million US dollars in his bank account. He dispersed some of the money to people close to the then prime minister Khaleda Zia -- including Mamun.
Selim Bhuiyan is an old family friend of Mamun and as Mamun is a close friend of Tarique, Bhuiyan enjoyed access to the inner circle of the BNP-led government.
A portion of the payment, Bhuiyan believed, would go to the prime minister's son. AKM Mosharraf Hossain, the then state minister for energy, received a total of $1,02,000, Bhuiyan alleged in his confession.
The magazine however notes that Bhuiyan later claimed he confessed under the duress of torture.
The Daily Star has obtained the relevant part of Bhuiyan's confessional statement made before Metropolitan Court Magistrate Mohammad Waliul Islam on January 15, 2008.
In that statement Bhuiyan said sometime in 2002 Mamun came to his office along with the then Niko Bangladesh Vice-president Kashem Sharif to help the company strike the joint venture deal. Kashem Sharif promised them financial benefits and left Bangladesh sometimes after the Niko deal was signed.
Later, Bhuiyan along with Mamun went to AKM Mosharraf Hossain and sought his cooperation.
Ever since, Bhuiyan and Mamun regularly maintained contact with Mosharraf seeking progress report on the Niko deal. Finally in late 2003 the Bapex-Niko joint venture agreement was signed.
Afterwards, Niko official Kashem Sharif deposited in parts a total of three crore taka (equivalent to half a million dollars) in Bhuiyan's bank account of Standard Chartered Bank in Gulshan.
From this deposit, Bhuiyan gave Mamun Tk 80 lakh through a pay order, and later another
one crore taka in cash and cheques. Mosharraf was given Tk 60 lakh from that same account while Bhuiyan kept the remaining Tk 60 lakh as his own lobbying fee.
"The confession was extracted under duress," Selim Bhuiyan told The Daily Star recently following the publication of the Globe and Mail report, "I confessed what I had been asked to confess. I did not have a choice at that time," he said.
He denied that Niko ever gave him any money. He, however, admitted that he travelled to Canada along with AKM Mosharraf Hossain. "I accompanied the minister and knew that the tour was approved by the government. I did not know who financed the tour," he said.
Replying to another question about why he was implicated in the Niko case, he said, "I actually don't understand why they have done this to me. It might be because I had close relation with the minister."
He maintained that Mosharraf should file a case against Niko for making such a false statement.
Although Bhuiyan now denies the content of his own statement, a government investigation in early 2008 found that he maintained a Standard Chartered Bank account no 18-1681125-01, which was Grindlays Bank back in 2004 (and his savings account no was 7623994). From this account, Bhuiyan on January 7, 2004 issued a pay order (number 428822) of Tk 1.08 crore to Mamun's current account no 7447699 (presently 01-1353592-01) in the same bank.
When Bhuiyan was contacted over the phone again to clarify how the 2008 investigation found such a transaction, he disconnected the call and refrained from receiving further calls from The Daily Star. The Daily Star finally sent him an SMS asking him to clarify his position on this matter in early November last year. But he did not reply.
The Daily Star provided Mamun's lawyer Barrister Fakhrul Islam with the Globe and Mail report along with four questions. On the question of Mamun's interview with the Canadian police, he said, "I will not say anything about the interview. You should ask Mamun."
Mamun is presently serving a jail term of 23 years in three cases.
Fakhrul Islam said he had nothing to say about Mamun's references in Selim Bhuiyan's confessional statements. He also declined to answer questions about whether Mamun had been given a $10,000 retainer or if Mamun had shared with his friends the money he had received from Niko.
Mosharraf denied taking any financial benefit, including a sport utility vehicle worth one crore taka, to favour Niko with a deal. "I could have taken money if I had wished to take benefit from Niko. Why should I take a car? The car was not given to me. It was registered in the name of Bapex as it was a joint venture between Bapex and Niko. The car was given to Bapex. I have never seen the car, let alone using it."
But back in 2005, Mosharraf had to resign from his position following publication of news that he had received the vehicle.
On the question of his relationship with Selim Bhuiyan, Mosharraf said, "It is completely a personal relationship. We are related not by any business involvement or matters that earn money. We know each other from before I began my career as a politician. We came to know each other through our social activities like organising Mohammedan Sporting Club."
On the question of his visit to Calgary, accompanied by Selim Bhuiyan, at Niko's expense, he answered, "I visited Calgary following invitation from the then Canadian government. Niko being a Canadian company was involved in the process. A Canadian minister who also had visited Bangladesh earlier was a part of it. The travel expenses were borne by the Canadian government. Selim Bhuiyan accompanied me during the visit as my younger brother. He did not have any involvement in making the deal. He travelled with me to help me. I, however, don't know who bore his travel expenses."
Mosharraf was told that according to Selim Bhuiyan's confessional statement, Mosharraf had received $1,02,000 for ensuring the joint venture agreement, and that money was given by Niko's Kashem Sharif to Selim, who then disbursed the money to different beneficiaries. He replied, "I know nothing about this. This is the first time I have come to know about such an allegation. I have to submit wealth statement to the government every year, and the government evaluates the statement routinely. Had there been any discrepancy between the actual wealth and my wealth statement, it would have been discovered by government investigators long ago. There is no such allegation from the government against me. It is an allegation made-up by the newspapers."
Mosharraf claimed, "The joint venture agreement had been signed during the previous tenure of the Awami League government, before I came to power. I did not sign any deal. We just continued the agreement."
But the deal was actually signed in 2003 when he was the state minister for energy.
The Globe and Mail report further said the Canadian court did not try Niko for bribing these people because gathering evidence in Bangladesh was a challenge, getting witnesses or bringing Bangladeshi witnesses before a Canadian court was also another big challenge.
The magazine also pointed finger at Canadian liberal senator Mac Herb for unethically taking money and other facilities from Niko to lobby for the company in Bangladesh.
It reported that Niko first tried to get into the Bangladeshi energy sector in the late 1990s -- but failed. It got a second chance when the BNP-led alliance government took over power in 2001. Niko bagged the deal in 2003.
But by 2005, Niko's good luck ended amid two rounds of blowouts in Tengratila while drilling an exploratory well. After the first blowout, the then state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain received a new Land Cruiser as a gift from Niko. For this fact alone Niko was found guilty of corruption in Canada.
EXCERPTS FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL'S MAGAZINE REPORT
The magazine reports, "Less than two weeks after he received Niko's gift in May, 2005, Hossain checked into a Calgary hotel to attend an oil and gas exposition. Accompanying him was his friend, a man he described as his 'brother', Selim Bhuiyan. At the time, Bhuiyan was the manager [president] of the Dhaka Club, an exclusive hangout for the city's elites. The job immersed him in the milieu surrounding the Prime Minister's son."
"Niko paid for the men's flights and their rooms, as well as subsequent side trips Hossain made to New York and Chicago to visit family. However, the company's largesse never had an impact on his decision-making, Hossain insists."
After a changeover in the country's political scene, an army-backed caretaker government arrested Mosharraf and many of Tarique Rahman's associates. Many confessions came out as a result of these arrests -- some of those were linked to Niko.
In November 2008, the Canadian government sent two Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officials to interrogate Giasuddin Al Mamun, who was in prison on graft charges.
The magazine reports that it was a tense time on November 1, 2008 in Dhaka. "Officially, al Mamun had been found guilty of weapons possession. Unofficially, he was guilty of being friends with Tarique Rahman."
"Al Mamun was delivered to a nondescript house in an affluent neighbourhood. He could be forgiven for thinking that whatever waited for him inside would be deeply unpleasant. Instead, he was greeted by two affable, middle-aged Canadians with buzz cuts and dark suits."
"The one with the big smile was Corporal Lloyd Schoepp, an RCMP officer who had quit a career as a retail banker in Banff to pursue a lifelong dream of being a cop. The other, Corporal Kevin Duggan, was an expert in recovering the illicit profits from drug dealing."
"Over the next two days, with breaks for rest and Domino's pizza, al Mamun gave the RCMP officers a crash course in Third World corruption."
"Al Mamun's candid interviews with the Mounties, as well as other evidence gathered by the RCMP during their trip to Dhaka, have been detailed in a 72-page affidavit filed in Alberta court by Corporal Duggan."
An edited version of the police officer's sworn statement was later released.
"Al Mamun told the police officers that his introduction to Niko came in 2002 when someone --whose name has been redacted from the affidavit -- dangled an offer of $1 million if al Mamun could land drilling rights for the Canadian company. As an appetizer, al Mamun said he was given a retainer of about $10,000. But he was ultimately unable to make the deal happen on his own. As a mere buddy of the Prime Minister's son, there was only so much he could do. 'My power is 50%,' he said."
"During Schoepp and Duggan's time in Dhaka, the military handed over all documents requested by the Mounties, including a signed confession made by Selim Bhuiyan -- the same social-club manager who travelled with Minister Hossain to Calgary, at Niko's expense, for the energy exposition."
Bhuiyan "made an admission similar to al Mamun's: Someone…offered him more than $1 million if he successfully helped land the gas fields for Niko."
"After Niko was handed drilling rights, more than $500,000 (U.S.) appeared in Bhuiyan's bank account, the confession stated. From there, Bhuiyan said he dispersed some of the money to the cast of characters surrounding Prime Minister Khaleda Zia -- including al Mamun. A portion of the payment, Bhuiyan believed, would go to al Mamun's friend, the Prime Minister's son. Hossain, the former minister who would not take 'a single pie' from anyone, received a total of $102,000, the confession alleged."
(For the full text of the Globe and Mail report on the Internet, go to the following website: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/niko-resources-ottawas-corruption-test-case/article2140358/)
(Chaitanya Chandra Haldar and Ashutosh Sarkar contributed to the report)
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=220313
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