M Abul Kalam Azad
Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad has more ornaments than his wife has and fewer assets than she owns, reveals his wealth statement submitted to the Election Commission along with nomination papers.
According to his affidavits attached to nomination papers for Dhaka-17, Rangpur-3 and Kurigram-2 constituencies, Ershad possesses gold and ornaments worth Tk 1.50 lakh while his wife Rowshan owns ornaments worth Tk 1.25 lakh.
The former army general says he has movable properties worth Tk 3.50 crore, of which Tk 2.50 crore in fixed deposit receipts (FDR). He has vehicles worth Tk 64.50 lakh, furniture worth Tk 6 lakh and shares, bonds savings and other capitals amounting to Tk 15.50 lakh.
Ershad claims to have no foreign currency.
Rowshan’s information shows that she has movable properties worth Tk 4.60 crore.
Ershad shows that he has only Tk 5 lakh in cash while his wife says she has Tk 2.13 crore in cash. Rowshan also owns vehicles worth Tk 69 lakh and postal and savings certificates worth Tk 1.76 crore.
Rowshan also possesses more immovable assets than Ershad.
In the statement, Ershad says he has cultivable land worth Tk 15.39 lakh and buildings–residential or commercial–worth Tk 1.66 crore. His wife owns houses, apartments and other buildings worth over Tk 6 crore.
Ershad has shown 2.88 crore as his annual earnings, of which Tk 32.50 lakh as interest on FDR, Tk 1.60 lakh from agriculture and Tk 4.50 lakh from businesses.
He has liabilities of about Tk 6.79 crore, of which Tk 14 lakh taken as car loan, Tk 4.89 crore in the name of a cold storage from the First Security Bank and Tk 1.75 crore for other liabilities. He claimed to have rescheduled the cold storage loan.
Ershad did not mention how much money he would spend for electioneering. He also did not fill in section 7 of the code of conducts that asks candidates to mention their promises made to voters during previous elections.
The former dictator faces 13 criminal cases: six of them are under trial while investigation is going on into four cases and the rest three were suspended by the court. He has been acquitted of charges in another 27 criminal cases filed against him after his deposition in 1990.
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
