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A Dhaka court on Tuesday sentenced eight people, including two sons of late Partex Group founder MA Hashem and former RAJUK chairman Iqbaluddin Chowdhury, to seven years in prison each in a plot corruption case.
The convicts are Hashem’s sons Shawkat Aziz Russell and Ashfaq Aziz Rubel, former Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) chairman Iqbaluddin Chowdhury, and five former RAJUK members: SD Foyez, AKM Wahedul Islam, SM Zafar Ullah, HM Zohurul Haque and Rezaul Karim Torafdar.
Judge Abdus Salam of Dhaka’s Ninth Special Judge Court delivered the verdict.
According to the prosecution, RAJUK had allocated two 10-katha plots to Russell and Rubel by depriving eligible applicants of the opportunity. The irregularities allegedly took place between August 23, 2001, and October 23, 2014, through abuse of power by RAJUK officials.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) prosecutor Khandaker Shamim Hossain said the court sentenced each convict to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for criminal misconduct and imposed a fine of Tk 10 lakh. They were also sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Tk 10 lakh for criminal breach of trust.
The sentences under the two charges will run concurrently, meaning each convict will serve seven years in prison, the prosecutor said.
As the accused had been on bail but failed to appear before the court on Tuesday, it cancelled their bail and issued sentence warrants and arrest warrants, court bench assistant Saiful Islam Mithu said.
Russell, chairman and managing director of Amber Group, is also president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA). Rubel is managing director of Partex Group and vice-chairman of City Bank.
The ACC filed the case with Motijheel Police Station on February 8, 2017. Following an investigation, the commission submitted a charge sheet against the eight accused on September 4, 2018. The court framed charges on August 26, 2019, and ordered the trial to begin.
During the trial, the court recorded testimony from nine witnesses before delivering the verdict following hearings on the defendants’ statements and arguments from both sides.
