ACC sues Al-Arafah Bank director over money laundering

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday lodged a case against a director of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited (AIBL) for his alleged connection in siphoning off money to Singapore.

The national anti-graft authority filed the case against AIBL director Badiur Rahman for setting up a company named M/S Ariel Maritime (Pvt) Ltd in Singapore and allegedly siphoning off Tk 16.8 million there.

ACC deputy director Jalal Uddin Ahmed filed the first information report (FIR) with Motijheel Police Station on the day.

According to the FIR, Mr Rahman established the aforementioned company in Singapore in 2003 with authorised capital of SG$ 1.0 million and paid up capital of SG$ 50,000. At that time, there were three directors of the company- of whom two were shareholders. Mr Rahman's invested capital in the company was SG$ 25,000.

However, in 2004, the AIBL director got full control of the company and raised the paid up capital to SG$ 0.5 million.

The anti-graft watchdog in its investigation found that the SG$ 0.5 million which is equivalent to Tk 16,838,800 was transferred to Singapore illegally as the accused could not show any evidence in this regard.

ACC filed the case against the AIBL director according to section 4 (2) (3) of Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012.

Mr Rahman has been the director of the bank since 1995 and served as the chairman from 2008 to 2016.

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