Court orders seizure of all CRI tax records

A Dhaka court on Wednesday ordered the seizure of tax files and all related records of the Centre for Research and Information (CRI), a research wing of the banned Awami League.

Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Shahjahan Kabir passed the order following an application by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Earlier, ACC Assistant Director and investigation officer AKM Mortuza Ali Sagar filed the application with the court. ACC Public Relations Officer Md Tanzir Ahmed confirmed the matter.

According to the application, CRI Chairman and Trustee Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy, Trustee and Vice-Chairman Saima Wazed, trustees Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Nasrul Hamid Bipu, and the organisation’s Executive Director Shabbir Bin Shams allegedly misappropriated and misused charity funds.

They acted in collusion with former National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, former finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal and NBR member of the tax appeals division Rowshan Ara Akter.

It further alleged that CRI, an organisation established in the name of public welfare, was formed through collusion and abuse of power for wrongful gain or to benefit others, involving criminal misconduct and criminal breach of trust. Despite allegedly failing to carry out public welfare activities and not being registered with the Department of Social Services, the organisation was granted illegal tax benefits through the issuance of a statutory regulatory order (SRO).

The application also alleged that various companies were unlawfully pressured into providing donations to the organisation in connection with the granting and receipt of these benefits.

According to the application, CRI received Tk45.35 crore from 23 companies and illegally earned a total of Tk100.31 crore during the 2013-14 to 2023-24 tax years. Of the amount, Tk15.68 crore was allegedly misappropriated.

The application further claimed that Tk247.85 crore was deposited into 25 bank accounts, while Tk191.21 crore was withdrawn from those accounts.

It also alleged that the non-payment of Tk36.52 lakh in income tax caused losses to the government. The illegally acquired funds were allegedly transferred, converted and handed over to various individuals under different pretexts before being misappropriated.

A case was filed over the allegations, as the offences are punishable under Sections 409 and 109 of the Penal Code, Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, and Sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012. The seizure of the relevant records is needed to examine the permanent and miscellaneous sections of CRI’s income tax files, it added.