Court orders freeze on Benazir's assets in USA, Malaysia

A special court in Dhaka on Monday granted a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to freeze and attach movable and immovable property in the USA and Malaysia owned by former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed.
Judge of the Senior Special Judge's Court in Dhaka, Md Jakir Hossain Galib, passed the order after hearing the petition.
The immovable property includes a commercial space at Lake Street in Hamburg, New York, and a residential space in Lake Avenue in Buffalo, New York. The value of the assets is USD 0.43 million. On the other hand, the movable property includes four bank accounts, two in Standard Chartered Bank in USA, and two in CIMB Islamic Bank in Malaysia.
ACC Deputy Director Md Hafijul Islam submitted the petition. In the petition, the ACC official said, "A case filed against the former IGP on charges of amassing Tk 94.46 million beyond known source of income is now under investigation. However, during the investigation, it was learned from reliable sources that the accused is trying to transfer both immovable and movable property owned by him and belonging to the organisation related to his interests.
"During investigation it has been found that the accused has illegally smuggled the money that has been acquired beyond his known source of income. He laundered the money by violating the set laws of Bangladesh and did not declare anywhere about the assets."

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