Police foil Shibir’s processions in capital city

Police foiled several processions brought out by Islami Chhatra Shibir men in city’s Motijheel, Shyamoli and Agargaon areas on Tuesday, reports UNB.

In Motijheel, Shibir activists brought out a sudden procession from Shapla Chattar at about 9:00 am. When the procession reached near Ittefaq intersection police tried to obstruct them.
Being obstructed by police, the Shibir activists attacked the law enforcers with brickbats. Police charged batons and fired several rounds of rubber bullets to disperse them. Several crude bombs were also blasted during the clash but none was hurt.
Meanwhile, Shibir men brought out processions at Shyamoli and Agargaon areas at about 11:00 am. Police charged batons and fired rubber bullets to foil the two processions. Sher-e-Banglanagar thana police detained several persons from the two spots.

S’pore court orders Koko’s firm to return Tk 8cr laundered by him

Dhaka : A Singapore court on Tuesday directed a consulting firm of the country to return to Bangladesh Tk 8 cr (US $ 9.32 million) siphoned off by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s younger son Arafat Rahman Koko, reports UNB.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam appeared for the Bangladesh government at the Court No 10 of Singapore which ordered the laundered money back. The court order came following a case filed with it by Bangladesh’s ACC three years ago.
The court sources said Koko laundered the money to Singapore in 2004-2006 and deposited it with Fairhill Consulting Limited, a firm set up in the Southeast Asian country by Koko when the BNP-led four-party alliance was in power in 2001-2006. He deposited the money with the help of a Singaporean citizen, the sources said. This is the second money laundering case in which the Bangladesh government has got the verdict in its favour.
In November last year, the ACC brought back around 20.41 lakh Singapore dollars (Tk 13 crore) laundered by Koko and his associate. Then the money was transferred to Sonali Bank’s Ramna corporate branch from Singapore on Nov 23, ACC sources said. In 2011, the ACC opened an account titled, ‘Stolen Asset Recovery Account’ with Sonali Bank to receive the amount.
The money was deposited in Singapore by Koko and Ismail Hossain Saimon, son of former BNP minister late Akbar Hossain. The returned money would be spent on anti-graft activities, they added. This was the first money-laundering case in which the government could recover the money. ACC Deputy Director Abu Syeed on March 17, 2009 sued Koko and Saimon for laundering more than Tk 20 crore – Singapore $ 28,84,603.15 and US $ 9,32,672.81 between 2004-07.
Koko had received the amount from the Chinese company Siemens and from Habibur Rahman, a Bangladeshi living in Dubai. The anti-graft body recovered the amount that Habib had sent to Fairhill Consulting’s account at Singapore Overseas Bank from Janata Bank’s Dubai branch between 2004 and 2007.
An ACC probe found Koko was the owner of Fairhill. In the case, the ACC pinpoints Koko’s dealings with China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd for constructing the New Mooring Container Terminal and with Siemens for supplying and setting up equipment for Teletalk mobile phone company. Trying him in absentia, a Dhaka court on June 23 in 2011 sentenced Koko to six years’ rigorous imprisonment. It also fined him around Tk 39 crore and ordered confiscating the laundered money. Saimon was handed down the same sentence.
Koko left the country for Bangkok for treatment on July 19, 2008 after getting out of jail on parole. He was arrested on September 2 the year before along with his mother from their cantonment residence.