Sheikh Hasina declared just Tk13 lakh worth of ornaments in her last election affidavit, but two lockers in her name at Agrani Bank have now been found to contain 832 bhori of gold and other valuables, senior officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) confirmed on Wednesday.
The haul from lockers 751 and 753 at Agrani Bank’s Motijheel head office includes gold ornaments, bars, coins, pearl sets, diamonds and high-value gemstones.
NBR officials said the market value of the items is close to Tk17 crore and will rise further once the gemstones are assessed. None of the recovered assets were included in her income tax filings.
Officials pointed out that a prime minister cannot store any gift received in official capacity inside a personal locker, calling it abuse of power and misappropriation of state property. All valuables have now been sealed and placed in another locker under government custody.
A separate vault at Pubali Bank’s Sena Kalyan Bhaban branch, also registered in her name, contained only an empty jute sack when opened. NBR officials believe valuables stored there had already been removed.
The Anti-Corruption Commission and NBR officials, in presence of a magistrate, broke the bank vault lockers of Hasina on Wednesday. However, no media was allowed there, and no video footage of the event was published.
Pubali Bank earlier withheld information about this vault when the Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) sought records last December, prompting a show-cause notice to its managing director.
Income tax lawyer Jahangir Alam said concealing asset information in tax documents is a criminal offence, carrying a maximum punishment of five years in prison if proven.
The CIC seized her lockers at Rupali Bank on 10 September and Agrani Bank on 17 September based on confidential intelligence.
Investigators could not open the lockers earlier because Hasina fled to India on 5 August last year after being ousted, and bank lockers require two keys – one held by the bank and the other by the locker holder.
NBR officials said the stark gap between Hasina’s declared wealth and what was recovered indicates deliberate concealment and will undergo full legal scrutiny.
