11 persons deposit over Tk 56.9m so far to seek clemency TAC chairman

Eleven corrupt individuals have deposited over Tk 56.9 million with the public exchequer to buy pardon from the Truth and Accountability Commission (TAC) for committing corruption in their respective realms, reports UNB.brUntil Tuesday, we've already given preliminary verdict to 11 individuals, including the chief engineer of Sylhet City Corporation, a forest official, a sub-registrar under Land Ministry and a BIWTA official, asking them to deposit over Tk 56.9 million to the public exchequer (Bangladesh Bank). And the money was deposited, TAC Chairman Justice Habibur Rahman told reporters at a regular briefing Wednesday afternoon. brHe said they had pronounced preliminary verdict, and after getting the money-receiving report from the Bangladesh Bank, all the charges would be withdrawn against them.brJustice Habibur said they also took hearing of seven more clemency-seekers Wednesday.brA total of 199 persons have so far approached the Commission voluntarily for clemency in return for their ill-gotten wealth, he said. Among the applicants, four came to the commission directly, 44 were sent by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and 151 by the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on serious crime and corruption - the two agencies set in a countrywide chase against suspects for the two crimes under the current purge in the interim period. brThe TAC chairman said they did not get any politician, and businessmen also did not come as expected to the Commission, seeking mercy for illegally amassing assets.brJustice Habibur said most of the mercy-seekers are government officials. I think they came here for clemency, as they would be ashamed socially if any case was filed against them, he also said. brHe added that during their trial, held in camera, the mercy-seekers really look to be very repentant for their wrongdoing.brAsked if they bamboozled TAC by giving false wealth information, the chairman said the commission gave them the verdict after matching their given wealth statements with the ACC and NCC investigation reports against those individuals.brIf we find that they had given false wealth statement, we would definitely send it to the ACC for further investigation, said Justice Habibur.br