MP Papul’s wife, daughter get bail; court orders freeze of 670 bank accounts

Reserved seat lawmaker Salina Islam, also wife of Lakshmipur-2 parliamentarian Kazi Shahid Islam Papul, was granted bail along with her daughter Wafa Islam on Sunday in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

The court of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge KM Imrul Kayes passed the order after the duo surrendered to it yesterday afternoon.

The same court has also ordered that all property belonging to Papul and his family members be confiscated and their 670 bank accounts be frozen.

Of the bank accounts, the power couple – Papul and Salina – own 617 accounts alone.

The court also asked the authorities concerned to seize 92 scheduled assets including two flats owned by Papul.

Earlier, the two accused – mother and daughter -- applied for bail with the High Court that ordered them to surrender before the judicial court.

Mohammad Salahuddin, deputy director of the ACC's integrated district office-1, filed a case on 11 November against four people -- lawmaker Kazi Shahid Islam Papul, his wife Selina Islam, daughter Wafa Islam and sister-in-law Jasmine Pradhan.

According to the case, the four had been charged with acquiring assets illegally worth Tk2.31 crore and laundering Tk148 crore.

On 23 December, the Anti-Corruption Commission and Criminal Investigation Department made two separate moves to freeze the bank accounts and confiscate properties of Papul and his three other family members.

ACC Deputy Director Mohammad Salahuddin appealed to the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) to freeze 613 bank accounts of the family with eight different banks while CID appealed for the freezing of 57 bank accounts.

On top of this, the anti-graft watchdog asked BFIU to confiscate around 30.27 acres of land and also a luxurious flat in Dhaka's Gulshan belonged to the lawmaker couple.

CID on 7 July filed a case against Papul – who is now in a Kuwait prison -- on charges of human trafficking, money laundering, illegal visa trade and bribing Kuwaiti official. 28 January next year is scheduled to pronounce the verdict of the case filed in Kuwait against Papul.

Subsequently, the ACC launched a probe to investigate the wealth of the lawmaker and his family.

On 11 November, the anti-graft watchdog sued Papul, her wife Salina Islam, daughter Wafa Islam and sister-in Law Jesmin Pradhan on money laundering charges and amassing illegal wealth.

On 22 December, CID filed the second case accusing the four on money laundering charges.

According to the CID findings, Papul and his family members amassed more than Tk355 crore and the money was transacted through 526 accounts and Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) of 13 different banks.

The CID also claimed to have concrete evidence of Tk38.22 crore laundered by Papul and said it was working to trace the flow of the rest of the money. It said it found only Tk1.30 crore in those accounts.

In the meantime, the ACC case stated that though Papul's sister-in-law Jesmin Pradhan has no source of income, she had 44 accounts in different banks.

The NRB Commercial Bank alone has 34 FDRs in her name with a total deposit of Tk2.31 crore.

While still a student, Jesmin founded an organisation named "Leelabali" that only exists on paper.

Between June, 2012 and June, 2020, Tk148.41 crore has been deposited in her personal or company accounts. The amount was subsequently withdrawn in cash from these accounts after which the money disappeared without a trace.