M Rahman
Tk 37 lakh was not enough for them. Taking the amount in bribes from a realtor, two deputy directors of the Anti-Corruption Commission demanded another Tk 20 lakh.
It all began when the commission issued a notice to real estate businessman Mobarak Hossain early last year asking for his wealth statement.
Starting as a medical representative, Mobarak turned into a businessman within a short time and became a director of Rupayan Group, a real estate company, according to ACC officials.
He, however, submitted his wealth statement within the stipulated time. Deputy directors Zahid Hossain and Golam Mostafa, who were acquainted with Mobarak, assured him that they would manage the ACC if it harasses him. In return, they asked for Tk 37 lakh.
Mobarak met their demand but kept an audio record of their conversation regarding the bribe, said a complaint he submitted to the acting chairman of ACC.
The duo didn’t there. They demanded Tk 20 lakh more; otherwise, they would put him in trouble, it added. The realtor also submitted a compact disk along with the complaint on June 10, saying the disk contained the conversation.
ACC acting chairman Mohammad Shahabuddin told The Daily Star that the commission yesterday filed a departmental case against the two deputy directors.
The anti-graft watchdog will now launch an investigation and if the probe finds the two guilty, they will lose jobs as per the ACC (Employees) Service Rule 2008, he added.
Asked whether there would be any criminal case against the two, another top ACC official said usually such offenders are not tried twice. However, if the commission wants, it may file a criminal case.
Contacted, Golam Mostofa refuted the allegations. Asked about the “recorded conversation”, he claimed it was faked to frame him for corruption.
He added Mobarak was junior to him by one year when he was a student at Rajshahi University. In the last two and a half years, the realtor quite often came to his house.
Asked why Mobarak would try to frame him, the deputy director avoided a direct reply and said truth will come out after investigation.
Zahid could not be contacted. Earlier this year, two other deputy directors, Ahsan Ali and Shafiqur Rahman, were forced into retirement for misuse of power, said an ACC source.
A number of ACC officials had amassed huge wealth through unfair means. Because of their involvement in corruption, they do not want to submit annual and five yearly wealth statements though the service rule makes it mandatory, several top ACC officers pointed out.
Source: thedailystar
