Reverses its order to freeze 252 accounts within an hour
Just an hour after ordering to freeze 252 bank accounts of controversial Destiny Group and Destiny-2000 Ltd, a Dhaka court yesterday withdrew the decision.
Judge (in-charge) Md Akhtaruzzaman of the Senior Special Judge’s Court ordered the freeze in the morning upon two petitions filed by Anti-Corruption Commission Deputy Director Mojahar Ali Sardar and its Assistant Director Toufiqul Islam.
The group officials could launder or transfer money from those accounts if those were not frozen, the plaintiffs argued in their petitions.
On September 12, the same judge cancelled the bail to five Destiny Group officials, including its managing director Md Rafiqul Amin. But the regular judge, Md Zahirul Haque, stayed the cancellation order the next day.
Akhtaruzzaman might have withdrawn his yesterday’s order apprehending a similar situation, said sources involved with the ACC petition.
ACC Public Prosecutor Kabir Hussain told The Daily Star the judge first accepted their pleas for freezing the accounts, but issued a written order an hour later, saying hearing on the petitions would be held today.
Earlier on September 27, the same court cancelled bails to 22 high officials of Destiny Group, including Md Rafiqul Amin, in two money laundering cases.
They had got bails from three lower courts that had no jurisdiction to deal with money laundering cases.
The ACC on July 31 sued the Destiny officials on charges of siphoning off Tk 3,285.26 crore.
Allegations are the multilevel company transferred crores of taka to their personal accounts from the company accounts.
However, a Bangladesh Bank official said Destiny had no scope to withdraw money from the accounts as the BB was yet to lift its previous order freezing those accounts.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
