DHAKA, Feb 20:
Khaleda Zia and the others convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case had committed state financial crimes by embezzling Government funds meant for orphans, the court has said in its verdict.
“In this case, all the six accused, including Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman, had been benefited in one way or another,” the court added.
“They will be considered as state financial criminals,” Judge Md Akhteruzzaman of the Fifth Special Judge’s Court of Dhaka observed in the verdict. The court released a certified copy of the verdict on Monday, 12 days after it sentenced the BNP chairperson to five years in jail for corruption in the Trust.
Her son and BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique, and the four other accused were sentenced to 10 years in jail and also fined over Tk 21-million each.
The judge said in the verdict that ‘financial corruption’ disrupts the normal flow of thee economy and affects all the levels of society. The other convicts in the case are former BNP MP Quazi Salimul Haq Kamal, former principal secretary to the PM Kamal Uddin Siddique, BNP founder Ziaur Rahman’snephew Mominur Rahman and businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed.
Tarique, sentenced to another seven years in prison earlier for money laundering, has been in London for about a decade. Former secretary Kamal and Mominur are absconding.
The judge said in the verdict ‘financial corruption’ disrupts the normal flow of the economy and affects all levels of society. The other convicts in the case are former BNP MP Quazi Salimul Haq Kamal, formerprincipal secretary to the PM Kamal Uddin Siddique, BNP founder Ziaur Rahman’snephew Mominur Rahman and businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed.
Besides Khaleda, MP Kamal and Sharfuddin are in jail. Tarique, sentenced to another seven years in prison earlier for money laundering, has been in London for about a decade.
Former secretary Kamal and Mominur are also absconding. The verdict says the accused persons embezzled around Tk 21-million of the orphanage funds ‘in collusion’.
Though the amount of money is of little value now, it carried much value when the crime was committed. No orphanage in the name of Zia Orphanage Trust has been found.
No orphans live there. The orphanage has no building or structure,” the verdict says. So, no argument of the defence is acceptable. The State’s argument is acceptable,” it adds.
The judge observed that Khaleda as the then Prime Minister should have spent the money in the government’s orphanage fund on the orphans, but she had transferred it to the Trust that did not exist.
He said the accused deserved maximum punishment for such crimes as per the law, which is life term imprisonment but did not hand the penalty, considering their age, social status and the amount of money embezzled.
The judge also took into account Khaleda’s physical condition. The law under which they are convicted only uses ‘imprisonment’, the verdict says, but adds the convicts are to serve rigorous imprisonment in line with the explanation of the law.
The Anti-Corruption Commission started the case with Dhaka’s Ramna police in July 2008 after the military-installed caretaker regime took over the previous year.
During her 1991-1996 stint as Prime Minister, Khaleda had opened an account name ‘Orphanage Fund’ with the state-owned Sonali Bank, the ACC alleged.
On Jun 9, 1991, a foreign organisation wired Tk 44.5 million in donations to the account through the Saudi Commercial Bank, according to the case documents.
Two years later, the fund was allocated to the Zia Orphanage Trust, which was formed by Tarique, his deceased brother Arafat Rahman Coco and their cousin Mominur.
The ACC said all rules were bypassed in founding the Trust and the address used for itwas the Dhaka Cantonment residence of Khaleda.
The fund later went to the Trust’s Bogra and Bagerhat branches. A portion of the Tk 23 million fund that was channelled to Bogra had been used to procure land, but the rest of the fund remained in the bank and increased up to Tk 33.7 million with interests until Apr 12, 2006.
The ACC says in 2006, Tarique and Mominur withdrew the funds at the behest of Khaleda and used it for fixed deposit receipt schemes with Prime Bank.
Former MP Kamal and the other suspects withdrew the fund to invest on other avenues but not for orphans, according to the graft watchdog.
The ACC had described the Zia Orphanage Trust as a ‘non-existent’ organisation used as a ‘banner’ to embezzle the foreign donations.
The verdict says the defence failed to prove their claim that the money transferred from the Saudi bank was destined for the Zia Orphanage Trust, not the ‘prime minister’s fund for orphans’.
It observes the address used for opening fixed deposit receipt account of the Trust was fake. It also says Khaleda and former secretary Kamal cannot evade the responsibilities as public servants because it was their duty to look after the fund.
Tarique and Mominur transferred the money from one bank to another instead of using it properly while former MP Kamal and Sharfuddin helped embezzle the fund directly and indirectly, according to the verdict. (UNI)
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