ACC asked to freeze 14 bank accounts of Putul's Shuchona Foundation

A Dhaka court yesterday ordered the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to freeze 14 bank accounts of Shuchona Foundation of Saima Wazed Putul, the daughter of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, over corruption allegations brought against her.

The balance in the accounts is Tk 48.35 crore.

Judge Md Zakir Hossain Galib of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court passed the order following a petition submitted by the ACC in this regard.

In the application, the ACC said Putul was appointed as the regional director of the WHO in connivance with her mother, defying the rules, principles, and ethics of the deed of the WHO.

She has already transferred hundreds of crores of money abroad through laundering after misappropriating the money from different government projects, utilising the illegal power of her mother, the ACC official added.

The ACC investigator, during its primary inquiry, came to know that Putul and other personalities related to Shuchona Foundation were trying to hand over and transfer the movable properties of the foundation.

It would be very difficult for the investigators to recover the properties if they can transfer or hand them over. So, an order is needed to prevent them from doing so.

Earlier, on January 29, the ACC conducted a raid at the Shuchona Foundation's registered office address in the capital's Dhanmondi but did not find any office at the location.

Shuchona Foundation, a non-profit and voluntary organisation, was founded by Putul.

A four-member team of the ACC also raided the National Board of Revenue (NBR) office to collect documents related to tax exemptions and financial irregularities of Shuchona Foundation.

The ACC team obtained relevant Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) from the NBR to investigate the tax exemptions granted to Shuchona Foundation. Upon review, the ACC team found preliminary evidence that since 2016, the foundation had been exempted from paying income tax on all its earnings, including interest from permanent and savings bank deposits, consultancy fees, and research fees.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 last year, several cases were filed against Putul, including one by the ACC for allegedly "concealing information and abusing power" to acquire a plot in Purbachal.

Shuchona Foundation was established in 2014 to work with individuals facing mental disabilities, neurological disorders, autism, and mental health issues. Putul was the founder and chairperson of its board of trustees.

On November 24 last year, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) directed various banks and financial institutions to freeze the foundation's bank accounts.