Kazi Abu Mahmud Faisal, First Secretary (Tax) of National Board of Revenue (NBR) has accumulated thousands of crores of rupees through various misdeeds including taking large bribes, abuse of power, transfer trade, various official irregularities and corruption by intimidating the income tax payers. He opened 700 accounts in different banks in the name of his relatives to hide these criminal assets. Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigation officials think so. According to the court documents, information of 19 banks and 87 crores of transactions of one financial institution has already been found.
As part of the investigation, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has seized several flat-plots and 87 bank accounts and savings certificates belonging to Faisal and his wife and relatives worth hundreds of millions of rupees. Dhaka Metropolitan Special Judge Mohammad Assamach Jaglul Hossain ordered the seizure of these assets in view of an application by the investigating officer ACC Assistant Director Mostafiz last Thursday. In addition to buying several flats and plots in Faisal’s own name, most of the wealth has been built in the name of wife Afsana Jasmine, father-in-law Ahmed Ali, mother-in-law Mumtaz Begum. In addition to this, the ACC presented the information of billions of rupees transactions in the bank of Faisal’s brother Kazi Khalid Hasan, brother-in-law Aftab Ali, sister-in-law Farhana Afroz, aunt-in-law Mahmuda Hasan, mother-in-law Sheikh Nasir Uddin, relatives Khandkar Hafizur Rahman and Roshan Ara Khatun.
A senior officer of the ACC told our time that the investigation against Kazi Abu Mahmud Faisal started from 2022. He has been accused of acquiring known disproportionate assets of thousands of crores of rupees through bribery and corruption. The search has already found his assets worth hundreds of millions of rupees. These resources are croaked and blocked. The search is likely to unearth a huge amount of wealth in his name. As the search is still ongoing, the total amount of his assets cannot be known until it is over.
This official also said that NBR officer Faisal is believed to have smuggled hundreds of crores of rupees abroad. Letters have been sent to Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and other government departments to provide information in this regard. In view of this, the analysis of the information received is going on.
According to the information received from the ACC sources, 5 crore 21 lakh rupees are deposited in 6 banks in the name of Faisal. His wife Afsana Jasmine has 2 crore 25 lakhs deposited in 5 banks. Although Faisal’s father-in-law Ahmed Ali is a retired bank officer and mother-in-law Mumtaz Begum is a housewife, the ACC found most of their transactions as banks. According to the investigation of ACC, there are 18 bank accounts in the name of Faisal’s father-in-law and mother-in-law. About 19 crores were deposited in these banks and later a large part of it was withdrawn. Faisal’s father-in-law Ahmed Ali has accumulated 11 crore 57 lakh taka as 8 banks. Of the 8 bank accounts in his name, two were opened in 2007 and 2010 and the rest were opened between 2020 and 2023. In the name of Faisal’s mother-in-law Mumtaz Begum, 7 crores were deposited in 10 banks. One of the bank accounts in his name was opened between 2009 and 2023. Meanwhile, ACC has received the information of Faisal’s brother-in-law Aftab Ali depositing Tk 1 crore 55 lakh in 6 banks. This money has been deposited in their name at different times. Much of it has since been removed. There are also savings certificates worth Tk 2.55 million in the name of Faisal, his wife, in-laws and relatives.
Living in the father-in-law’s flat!
Faisal lives with his family in a flat in Rupayan Swapnilay Bhawan, built on 85 Katha of Siddheshwari Road in the capital. The flat of 3 thousand 228 square feet with parking was bought last year in the name of father-in-law Ahmed Ali. The market value of this flat is around six crore taka. Although the deed value is shown as 95 lakh 50 thousand taka.
In 2020, Faisal bought a 5 katha plot in the name of his wife Afsana Jasmine in Bashundhara area of Kanthaldia Mouja in Bhatara of the capital. Three and a half years ago, the deed value of that land was shown as 18 lakh 17 thousand taka, but now that land is close to one crore taka per katha. Faisal bought two and a half kathas of land in his own name in Bashundhara’s residential project. Apart from this, Faisal bought land in 4 separate documents in his own name in Rupganj of Narayanganj. The deed value of these assets is shown to be more than 40 lakh rupees.
On the other hand, Faisal bought a plot of 10 khatra in the name of his mother-in-law Mumtaz Begum in the year 2022 in the capital’s Aftabnagar Eastern Housing. The deed value of this plot is Tk 52 lakh but the current market value is more than Tk 10 crore.
ACC Public Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, who is in charge of the Dhaka Metropolitan Special Judge’s Court, told our time that the court has sent a copy of the order to the relevant public and private 33 departments regarding Faisal’s assets that have been seized and blocked. ACC has been instructed to issue notices in both Bengali and English newspapers in this regard.
This lawyer said that the court in its order has directed to take measures to prevent transfer of immovable property including encroached flat-plot-land. It ordered that no money can be withdrawn from the accounts of banks and financial institutions whose accounts have been blocked, but deposits can be made.
Incidentally, Mahmood Faisal joined BCS (Tax) cadre in 2005 as Assistant Tax Commissioner. He is currently serving as First Secretary (Taxes Legal and Enforcement) of Income Tax Department of NBR.
Sensational news of seizure of Faisal’s assets came in the midst of the investigation against Matiur Rahman, a newly minted member of NBR, who was discussed across the country in the goat case. On the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat went viral on social media after buying a goat worth Tk 15 lakh, his father Matiur, President of Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal, came out in search of identity. After that, on June 23, Motiur was removed from the tribunal and was also relieved from the position of director of Sonali Bank. On the same day, ACC formed a special committee of three members to investigate his allegations of irregularities and corruption.