HC slams Khandaker Mohtesham as money laundering ‘mastermind’, rejects bail plea
Khandaker Mohtesham Hossain Babar, brother of former Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, is the mastermind behind laundering over Tk2,000 crore from Faridpur, the High Court said on Tuesday.
The court said this while hearing a bail plea from Babar in the money laundering case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). His plea was rejected.
"Babar is the mastermind of the crime committed in this case. We can also call him a ring leader," Justice Nazrul Islam Talukdar and Justice Kazi Mohammad said on the day.
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"The other accused committed the crime under the shelter and advice given by him [Babar]. Babar's actions have tarnished the image of the government and the country," they said.
Lawyer Mizanur Rahman appeared in the court for Babar while Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state.
After failing to secure bail in the judicial court, Babar applied to the High Court.
A former chairman of Faridpur Sadar upazila, Babar was arrested on 7 March from the Basundhara residential area in the capital as one of the accused in the money laundering case.
Babar's involvement in the crime came up after the Criminal Investigation Department of the police n 2020 arrested former Faridpur Awami League leader Sajjad Hossain alias Barkat and his brother Imtiaz Hasan alias Rubel, who had amassed Tk2,535.11 crore beyond their known sources of income. CID filed the case with Dhaka's Kafrul Police Station on 26 June 2020.
In March last year, CID pressed charges against Babar, the two brothers and seven others for siphoning off the money abroad.
