report in bdnews24.com, Sept 13, 2017 at 21:37:04.0 BdST
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her government is investigating BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s offshore assets.
She spoke about the issue on being asked by Jatiya Party MP Fakhrul Imam on Wednesday about the offshore assets of the BNP leaders, including Khaleda.
Referring to a report of Global Intelligence Network, Imam presented a list of the BNP leaders’ assets abroad.
He said the Zia family have assets worth Tk 12 billion in at least 12 foreign countries.
“The name of the owner of Al Arafa Shopping Mall in Saudi Arabia is one Ahammad Al Asad, but actually Khaleda Zia owns it. She is the owner of ‘Tipra’, a commercial multi-storey building in Qatar,” he said.
The prime minister said, “As the information have surfaced, we surely have those. An investigation is under way into the matter.”
“Besides this investigation, Bangladesh Bank is also looking at the money-laundering angle of the issue.”
“Proper measures will be taken after checking the information during investigations,” the prime minister added.
According to Imam, Khaleda’s late younger son Arafat Rahman Coco was the owner of ‘Iqra’, a multi-storey office building in Qatar while her nephew ‘Tuhin’ has three houses in Canada.
The prime minister thanked the opposition MP for presenting the information in parliament.
“Proper steps will surely be taken against those who have looted the people’s assets,” Hasina said.
“When we have the correct information during the course of investigation, we will take steps to recover those assets,” she said.
The leader of the House also said the government had already taken some steps to this end. “I can’t tell you everything now for the sake of investigation,” she added.
The prime minister reminded the MPs that money stashed by Coco in Singapore had been brought back.
“We have the GIN report and are investigating it,” she said.
In the prime minister’s question hour, Hasina told the MPs the authorities were monitoring whether funds from abroad are being used to finance terrorism here.
“A number of individuals and organisations are suspected to have links to terror financing. The efforts to identify them and take legal action against them are under way,” she said.
http://bdnews24.com/politics/2017/09/13/khaleda-s-offshore-assets-being-investigated-hasina-tells-mps
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