A court has ordered the confiscation of four flats and 10 kathas of land owned by former culture minister Asaduzzaman Noor. Additionally, 16 of his bank accounts were frozen.
The order was issued by Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad Sabbir Faiz on Monday in response to a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
ACC Public Relations Officer Akhtarul Islam confirmed this information late on Monday evening. The petition was filed by Assistant Director of the ACC, Mohammad Ferdous Rahman, and was granted by the court after hearing the case.
On July 30, the ACC filed a case against Noor for amassing illegal assets worth Tk 5.37 crore and engaging in money laundering activities amounting to over Tk 158.78 crore.
The charge sheet stated that Asaduzzaman Noor had abused his power to acquire assets worth Tk 5.37 crore beyond his known sources of income and kept them in his possession.
Additionally, transactions worth Tk 158.78 crore were conducted through 19 bank accounts in Noor’s name at different banks and financial institutions.
These transactions involve the transfer, conversion, and handover of funds, leading to charges of money laundering under the Money Laundering Prevention Act and the ACC Act. The accused’s bank accounts show deposits of Tk 85.72 crore and withdrawals of Tk 73.5 crore.
The source of these transactions remains unclear.
It should be noted that on the night of September 15 last year, Asaduzzaman Noor was arrested from his residence in the city’s Bailey Road area. He has been incarcerated ever since.
