Appeal against Tarique's acquittal

The anti-graft body filed an appeal in this regards on Thursday, ACC's lawyer Md Khurshid Alam said.

On Nov 17, Judge Md Motahar Hossain of the Special Judges' Court-3 found BNP chief Khaleda Zia's elder son not guilty of the money laundering charges and acquitted him.

But Tarique Rahman's close business associate Giasuddin-Al-Mamun had been sentenced to seven years in prison and fined Tk 400 million for complicity in the money laundering case.

ACC counsel Md Khorshed Alam told bdnews24.com on Thursday that they have sought cancellation of the Lower Court's verdict.

"We said (in the appeal plea) that verdict has a lot of legal oversight. The court acquitted Tarique without properly examining our witnesses and documented evidences," he said.

Alam said that the charges brought against Tarique Rahman falls under the definition of money laundering.

BNP's senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman was not present during the verdict as he had been living in London since 2008 after securing a bail from the Supreme Court.

The trial of Tarique and Mamun had begun on July 6, 2010, after the ACC filed a charge-sheet against them at the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.

ফাইল ছবি

The ACC had lodged the case with the Dhaka Cantonment Police Station on Oct 26, 2009, accusing them of siphoning off Tk 204.1 million to Singapore between 2003 and 2007.

On Aug 8 last year, the court indicted Tarique and Mamun under the Money Laundering Act 2002, issuing an arrest warrant against Tarique.

According to the case details, Mamun took Tk 204.1 million as bribes from Khadiza Islam, Director of Nirman Construction Ltd, promising the contract of building an 80MW power plant at Tongi.

Mamun allegedly deposited the money in the Capital Street Branch of Singapore’s City Bank, from where Tarique withdrew Tk 30.78 million.

A Dhaka court in May this year had ordered Tarique’s arrest with the help of Interpol.

Several cases were lodged and Tarique was arrested on Mar 7, 2007, during the state of emergency.

In September next year, after securing a bail from the Supreme Court, Tarique went to the UK citing medical reasons.

He has been in London ever since, even attending some BNP events in the city in recent times.

Khaleda's younger son, Arafat Rahman Coco, was also charged in a money laundering case.


He has already been handed down a six-year imprisonment in the case after a trial in absentia.