World News

Wife of NSI officer had millions in bank account

Over the last 15 years, a total of Tk 1.26 billion has been put into the bank account of Suraiya Parvin, who is married to Akram Hossain, an assistant director at the National Security Intelligence (NSI). In that time, more than Tk 1.25 billion has been taken out of the bank account. It says that the business is in the wife's name, but the NSI officer was the one who did the banking.

They own several shops, flats, and lands in Dhaka. They also own a house and land in Natore. They also bought land on the island of Saint Martin's in Cox's Bazar. They also own a business building in Birulia, Savar.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against the couple because they were seen buying things with money they didn't have. The ACC knows that his assets are worth more than Tk 67 million, which is unrelated to his known income sources. In the asset statement he gave to the ACC, he hid details about assets worth Tk 16.1 million. Also, the ACC knows that Suraiya's assets go beyond the Tk 2.1 million in known sources of income.

On Tuesday, Mashiur Rahman, deputy head of the ACC, told TGE that a case was filed against Akram Hossain and Suraiya Parvin on May 21. After the review is over, the following civil steps will be taken.

On the condition of secrecy, an ACC officer told TGE that Akram Hossain abused his power as the assistant to the NSI directors by threatening political leaders and businesspeople with bad reports and demanding large amounts of money from them.

With this money, he made a lot of money. Later, after his actions caused a stir, the ACC began its probe.

Akram joined the NSI in 1989 as a middle-division worker. He lived in Nawpara, Natore, about eight years ago. After taking the test as a regional candidate, he became a junior field officer. He was given the title of assistant director in 2016.

The ACC started an investigation into the assets owned by the NSI official and his wife. A report from the ACC says that Akram bought 24 decimals of land in Natore in 2002. After that, he purchased 208 decimals of land in Dhaka and Saint Martin's Island for himself and his wife in the name of their family until 2020. Between 2014 and 2020, he bought the most.

Abnormal transaction

In 2008, Akram set up a business in his wife's name to officially register his illegal properties. The ACC study says that the industry has no legal papers, though. The ACC looked at the records of transactions in 25 bank accounts and found that Suraiya's company has fewer transactions.

In the case statement, the ACC said that more than Tk 1,263,315,144 was sent to Suraiya Parvin's 25 bank accounts from 2009 to 2023. At the same time, an odd amount of Tk 1,252,574,904 was taken out of these funds.

The case statement also says that Suraiya owns the two businesses, Star Electra World and Leera Tours and Travels Limited. However, her husband, Akram Hossain, did all the banking.

The commercial building in Savar

In the Birulia Pukurpar area of Savar, Akram bought a 16.4-decimal-acre plot of land. A six-story building called "Star Complex" has been built there. From the first to the fifth floors of the building, he built the factory for his wife's business, "Star Electro World." Electric products, like fans and lights, are made by this company.

 

Akram told the ACC that he spent Tk 4,732,000 on building the building. However, the ACC has found that the actual cost is more than Tk 56.8 million. In that case, Akram hid that he had spent Tk 16,179,000.

 

TGE just spoke with Afzal Pramanik, a security guard at a building in Birulia. He said Akram owned the building. From the first to the fifth floors, though, the house is empty. A clothing business has only hired the sixth floor.

 

Recently, this reporter talked to some locals about the building. They didn't want to give away their names. They said that Electro World used to make electric goods by assembling the electric parts it bought from other countries. Many people used to work for the company in its early days.

 

A shop owner in the area who did not want to be named said that a government figure owned the building. He goes to work every Friday.

Flat and commercial spaces in Dhaka 

Akram and his family live in a 1,500-square-foot flat in the Senpara neighborhood of Mirpur. The flat is on the third floor of a building called Mega Harbour. Akram and his wife paid Tk 2.2 million for it in 2015.

 

During a recent visit, Altaf Ali, the building manager, told TGE that Akram lives there with his two children and his family. When asked if his wife runs a business, Altaf replied, "Madam lives at this address." I don't think she'll be going out much.

 

Nurul Islam, a security guard at the building, said that Akram has a car that he takes his family on trips in. He normally rides a motorbike to and from work.

 

An investigation by the ACC found that Akram has a 100-square-foot shop in the same part of Mirpur. In Suraiya, there are also two apartments and a 1,650-square-foot business place.

 

In an interview with TGE on May 8, Akram Hossain said that all the property he and his wife own is legal and was bought with money from his wife's business. They list all of these assets on their tax forms.

 

When asked about it, Iftekharuzzaman, the head of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said that police and intelligence workers making money by bothering people is nothing new. The way he got the assets should be looked into.

 

He also stressed the importance of monitoring the NSI officials who watch over the people.