Woman jailed for impersonating pensioner’s wife

A Dhaka court on Monday sentenced a woman to seven years in jail for swindling money from the government exchequer by impersonating a pensioner's wife.

Judge Shahidul Islam of Dhaka's Special Judge Court-7 ordered sending Shefali Begum, a defence ministry staff, to jail in the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). 

The convict, who had been on bail, was present at the court during the verdict, Md Sagar, a bench assistant of the court, confirmed the matter to the media.

According to the case statement, Hamidur Rahman, an assistant secretary of the defence ministry, died in September 1999 after receiving a pension in 1986.

As his wife had died earlier and his sons and daughters were adults, his pension benefits were terminated as per the pension rules.

But eight years after Hamidur's death, Shefali in May 2007 applied for a family pension claiming herself as his sole widow.

In support of the pension application, Shefali submitted forged Kabinnama, the Muslim marriage deed, and inheritance certificates of marriage with Hamidur.

From September 1999 to August 2016, she swindled Tk7 lakh from the government treasury through a fraud document.

ACC Assistant Director Sohana Akhtar submitted a written complaint against the accused at Sher-E-Bangla Nagar Police Station in the capital for embezzling the money from the government's treasury by pretending to be Hamidur's wife.

In May 2018, Investigating Officer Sohana Akhter submitted the charge sheet to the court as the allegations brought against Shefali were initially proved to be based on evidence.

In January 2019, Dhaka Special Judges' Court-7 framed charges against the accused.