Bangladeshi court sentenced former army chief General Harunur Rashid and 18 others to 12 years in prison for embezzlement and money laundering

A Dhaka court has sentenced 19 people, including Destiny Group Managing Director (MD) Rafiqul Amin and its president and former army chief M Harun-ur-Rashid, to 12 years imprisonment in a case filed over the misappropriation of $70 million from Destiny Tree Plantation Limited. The court also fined them $370 million.

Judge Md Rabiul Alam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 handed down the verdict on Wednesday. Belal Hossain, bench assistant of the court, confirmed the information in the first light.

The other convicts are Destiny Chairman Mohammad Hossain, Mohammad Gofranul Haque, Mohammad Sayeed-your-Rahman, Mezbah Uddin, Syed Sajjad Hossain, Irfan Ahmed, Farah Diba, Jamshed Ara Chowdhury, Sheikh Tayebur Rahman, Nepal Chandra Biswas, Jasim Uddin, Zakir Hossain, SM Ahsanul Kabir, Jubayer Sohel, Mosaddek Ali, Abdul Mannan and Abul Kalam Azad.

Of the 19 convicts, Rafiqul Amin, Mohammad Hossain, and Harun-ur-Rashid were sent to jail. Others are fugitives; the court has issued arrest warrants against them. Public Prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir conducted the case on behalf of the ACC.

Earlier, on May 15, 2022, the court sentenced 46 accused, including Destiny Group Managing Director (MD) Rafiqul Amin, the company’s president and former army chief M Harun-or-Rashid, to different jail terms in a case of embezzlement and laundering.

On July 31, 2012, two separate cases were filed against Rafiqul and Destiny Tree Plantation officials for embezzling and laundering money from investors in the name of Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society and Destiny Tree Plantation Limited. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case with Kalabagan Police Station in the capital.

$370 million was accused of embezzlement and laundering in the two cases.

After two years of investigation, the ACC submitted charge sheets in both cases on May 4, 2014. A charge sheet was submitted to the court against 46 people in the Multipurpose Co-operative Society case and filed against 19 people in the tree plantation case.

The total number of accused in the two cases is 53. Rafiqul and 12 others were named in the two cases. Mohammad Hossain and Rafiqul are already in jail.

The other convicts sentenced in the case are Mohammad Gofranul Haque, Mohammad Sayeed-your-Rahman, Mezbah Uddin, Syed Sazzad Hossain, Irfan Ahmed, Farah Diba, Jamshed Ara Chowdhury, Sheikh Tayebur Rahman, Nepal Chandra Biswas, Zakir Hossain, Azad Rahman, Akbar Hossain, Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad, Saidul Islam Khan, Sumon Ali Khan, Shirin Akhter, Rafiqul Islam Sarker, Mujibur Rahman, Didarul Alam. M Haider Uzzaman, Joynal Abedin, Kazi Md. Fazlul Karim, Molla Al Amin, Shafiul Islam, Ziaul Haque Molla, Sikder Kabirul Islam, Firoz Alam, Omar Faruk, Sunil Baran Karmakar, Farid Akhter, S Shahiduzzaman Chayan, Abdur Rahman, Sakibuzzaman, SM Ahsanul Kabir, AHM Ataur Rahman, GM Golam Kibria, Atiqur Rahman, Khandaker Benazir Ahmed, AKM Shafiullah, Shah Alam, Delwar Hossain, Jesmin Akhter and Shafiqul Haque.

According to the ACC chargesheet, $123 million was collected from investors in the name of Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society. From there, $110 million was embezzled, affecting eight and a half million investors.

According to the charge sheet of the other case, $200 million was collected from investors through Destiny Tree Plantation in 2008. Of this, $170 million was embezzled, affecting 17.5 million investors. According to the case, $370 million was siphoned off as LC (letter of credit), and $100 million was directly laundered.

After four years of filing the case, the trial began on August 24, 2016, with the framing of charges against Rafiqul and others.

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