Julfikar Ali Manik
BNP standing committee member and former minister Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain brought back 76,282.07 pounds (equivalent to about Tk 1.04 crore) from the UK at the initiative of now-defunct taskforces.
The military-backed caretaker government cracked down on high-profile graft-suspects in February 2007 and Mosharraf was arrested within a few months.
Sources say he brought back the money when the army-led taskforces under the National Coordination Committee to combat corruption and serious crime found his wealth stashed in the UK.
Contacted over phone, Mosharraf told The Daily Star Saturday evening he brought back the money with the help of the taskforces.
He however could not ‘remember’ the amount he had brought back saying he needs to go through documents.
Asked why he had brought the money back, Mosharraf said, “I just thought to bring it back in the country. But since I was in jail, I sought help from the taskforces.”
The amount was brought in two phases and deposited to Mosharraf’s account, which is still frozen, at the corporate brunch of Janata Bank on Topkhana Road in the capital.
About Tk 82.61 lakh was deposited to the account against £60,839.74 on May 29, 2007 and about Tk 21.06 lakh against £15,442.33 on June 6, 2007.
Sources say the money was brought back as part of the caretaker government’s attempt to bring back the money siphoned off by the high-profile graft suspects. It could recover Tk 1,219 crore from abroad and deposited in national coffer.
As Mosharraf was behind bars as a high-profile graft-suspect, the taskforces brought back the amount to have it deposited in the government exchequer at a later time, sources involved in the anti-corruption drive said.
Mosharraf did not bring back other assets he owns in the UK, the sources add. He said the process has yet to be completed to bring back the assets he has in the UK.
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
