Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has seized 23 sacks of documents during a late-night raid on the home of a former driver employed by ex-Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, officials said Sunday.
The operation, carried out in the early hours of Saturday (September 21) in the Shikolbaha area of Chattogram’s Karnaphuli police jurisdiction, was based on intelligence suggesting that sensitive financial records were being concealed at the residence.
According to ACC Deputy Director Moshior Rahman, the raid initially targeted the home of Elias, the personal driver of Chowdhury’s wife, Rukhmila Zaman. Investigators were acting on information that documents related to alleged money laundering and domestic business dealings had been hidden there.
However, suspecting a forthcoming search, Elias is believed to have relocated the materials to the home of an individual identified as Osman Talukder. ACC officials then forcibly entered Talukder's residence, where they recovered the 23 sacks of documents.
“These documents appear to be linked to foreign money transfers and various business operations,” Rahman said. “Further analysis is required to determine the full extent and significance of their contents.”
The dramatic seizure comes just days after the ACC arrested two senior executives of Aramit PLC and Aramit Thai Aluminium Ltd. — identified as Utpal Pal and Abdul Aziz — in connection with an embezzlement and money laundering case involving Tk 250 million (approximately USD 2.1 million) from United Commercial Bank. The raid was reportedly prompted by information obtained during their five-day remand approved by the court.
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, a former MP from Chattogram-13 and the son of late Awami League leader Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu, served as State Minister for Land from 2014 to 2018 and as full minister from 2019 to 2023.
In October last year, a court imposed a travel ban on Chowdhury and his wife amid allegations that they had laundered substantial sums of money to the United Kingdom and the United States, where they allegedly acquired extensive assets.
SMS/
