The central intelligence cell (CIC) has asked the commercial banks and non-banking financial institutions to freeze bank accounts of politician GM Quader, his wife Sharifa Quader.
In an order, sent to the managing directors of the scheduled banks and NBFIs, the CIC under the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has instructed instant execution of the order and furnish last bank account balances of the latter in a report to the cell.
It has also issued bank account search notice to actor Mahfuz Ahmed, son-in-law of Mr Quader, and his daughter Ishrat Jahan Quader.
The move came after the intelligence agencies suspected wrongdoing.
Last week, the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) also launched an investigation against GM Quader, the Jatiya Party chairman, over allegations of trading party positions, engaging in nomination business and embezzling party funds through fraudulent means.
ACC investigators suspected that Quader fraudulently assumed the chairmanship of the Jatiya Party and later exploited his position to sell party posts and nominations, amassing a huge sum of money, a portion of which was allegedly siphoned abroad.
ACC documents suggest that following the 2018 general elections, Jatiya Party leaders allegedly accepted bribes totaling Tk181 million in exchange for nominations to reserved women's seats in Parliament.
When a dispute arose over payments, senior party leader Professor Masuda M Rashid Chowdhury temporarily suspended one of the involved members.
This suspension ultimately paved the way for Quader's wife, Sharifa Quader, to be elected as an MP.
A long-serving politician, Quader has been elected to Parliament from different constituencies since 1996 and has served multiple terms as Leader of the opposition.
Between 2009 and 2014, he held ministerial positions in the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry as well as the Commerce Ministry.
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