A Dhaka court on Monday jailed former chairman of the Farmers Bank audit committee Mahbubul Haque Chisty, alias Babul Chisty and his son Rashedul Haque Chisty to 12 years in jail each in a graft case over laundering around Tk 159.95 crore.
According to the court sources, the same court also sentenced Babul Chisty’s wife Rosy Chisty, and former first vice president of the bank Masudur Rahman Khan to five years of imprisonment each in the corruption case.
Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 Judge Syed Arafat Hossain announced the verdict in the presence of Babul Chisty and his son Rashedul.
The court fined Babul Chisty, his wife, and his son double the amount of money they laundered, meaning they will have to pay over Tk 319.90 crore, in default of which the father and the son will serve two more years in prison while Rosy will have to stay in jail for one year.
The Dhaka Special Judge Court also ordered the authorities concerned to confiscate the three convicts’ properties in favour of the state.
Another accused, Masudur Rahman Khan, was fined Tk 10 lakh, in default he will have to serve one more year in jail, and an order was issued to confiscate all his properties.
The court issued arrest warrants for Rosy Chisty and former vice president Masudur after rejecting their bail pleas.
Babul Chisty, in collaboration with other officials of the bank, deposited and withdrew a huge amount of money in cash and through a pay-order after opening savings accounts with Farmers Bank’s Gulshan branch, the case statement reads.
Babul transacted Tk 159 crore, 95 lakh, and 49,642 through 25 accounts in the name of several firms owned by his wife, son, and daughter.
On April 10 in 2018, Anti-Corruption-Corruption (ACC) lodged the case against the four with Gulshan Police Station.
The court framed charge sheet against the accused on October 30, 2019.
The same court set October 30 for delivering the judgment after the conclusion of arguments from both sides.
After verifying testimonies of 15 witnesses, the court handed down the judgment in the presence of two out of the four accused.