Former Bangladesh premier's son convicted in money laundering case

Jun 23, 2011, 12:37 GMT

Dhaka - A son of former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia was on Thursday sentenced to six years in prison for money laundering during his mother's 2001-06 term, court officials said.

Zia's youngest son, Arafat Rahman, who is now living in exile in Thailand, was also fined 2.57 million dollars for siphoning off an estimated 3.24 million dollars to a Singapore bank.

Special court judge Mohammad Mozammel Hossain handed down the same punishment to co-defendant Ismail Hossain Simon, a friend of Rahman, and told the authorities to make sure that the money was returned to the exchequer.

Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission had filed the lawsuit in March 2009, charging the two with laundering the 3.24 million dollars to Singapore, which they received from the China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd and Siemens AG for helping them get contracts for a container terminal and a cell phone operator.

Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition party, rejected the verdict, claiming it was a ploy by the Awami League-led ruling coalition of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed to damage the reputation of Zia's family.

Zia's oldest son, Tarique Rahman, who now lives in exile in Britain, has also been charged with corruption and money laundering.

Wazed pledged before the 2008 elections to bring back the money she said was laundered, and noted Thursday that her government had signed deals with major financial intelligence agencies for information related to the crime.

'We will bring back the money laundered during the BNP regime to deposit to the public coffer,' she told a party gathering in Dhaka.