Some lawmakers of the ruling Awami League and its allies had a huge increase in their moveable property over the last decade, their affidavits show.
Many of them have opted for postal and savings certificates to get high interest rates offered by the government.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Take AL lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh as an example.
His investments in postal and savings certificates and fixed deposit have increased more than a thousand-fold in the last 10 years.
In 2008, Taposh had bonds and share certificates worth Tk 3.30 lakh which rose to Tk 32.14 crore within five years. This year, the amount shot up to Tk 42.27 crore.
The annual income of Taposh, AL nominee from Dhaka-12, was Tk 23.89 lakh in 2008. This year it went up to Tk 10 crore, which he earned by renting out houses and shops, and from dividends from shares, and interests on saving certificates and bank deposits, as well as by practising law.
In his affidavit for 2014 polls, his annual income was Tk 2.39 crore.
Jatiya Party Secretary General Ruhul Amin Hawlader had no fixed deposit when he became lawmaker from Barishal-6 in 2008.
The status remained unchanged even in 2014 when he contested the election from Patuakhali-1. But now he has Tk 5 crore in fixed deposits, according to his affidavit.
He mentions business (renting out house) as his profession but shows big gains in yearly income. His yearly income was Tk 13.14 lakh in 2008. In 2014, it rose to Tk 1.76 crore, and to Tk 21.51 crore this year.
While Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haq Inu does not have more than Tk 5.4 lakh in postal and savings certificates and deposit schemes, his bank deposits have seen an astronomical rise.
He had Tk 71,917 deposited with banks and financial institutions just before the 2008 polls. It increased 61 times to Tk 44.51 lakh this year.
But his wife's deposits rose more than 176 times rise. The amount she had back then was Tk 8,081 and now it has leapt to Tk 14.28 lakh.
In the last 10 years, the moveable property of AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader and his wife has increased fivefold.
Quader's savings in various deposits or investment schemes hopped from Tk 15.56 lakh in 2008 to Tk 71.23 lakh ahead of the 2014 polls, and it now stands at Tk 1.24 crore.
BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed had Tk 8.94 crore as postal and saving certificates and fixed deposit in 2008. It stood at Tk 9.98 crore this year.
Ten years ago, Moudud's wife did not have any postal and saving certificates or fixed deposit, but the latest affidavit shows she has now Tk 1.28 crore in savings instruments.
FAZLE NUR TAPOSH
When ruling Awami League MP Fazle Noor Taposh ran for the 2008 election, he was a millionaire.
Ten years down the line, he is now a billionaire, according to the 2018 affidavit he submitted to the returning officer along with his nomination papers.
According to his 2008 affidavit, Taposh, a lawyer by profession and an AL nominee from Dhaka-12, had moveable property, including cash in hand, bank deposits, bonds, shares, and postal and saving certificates, worth Tk 1.75 crore.
According to the affidavit submitted for the 2014 polls, his moveable property was worth Tk 48.70 crore.
This year, it is Tk 111.56 crore.
The lion's share of his and his dependants' wealth -- Tk 90 crore -- was kept in saving certificates and shares.
Taposh's annual income in 2008 was Tk 23.89 lakh which he had earned through house and shop rents, shares, saving certificates, bank deposits and his law practice.
In the 2014 affidavit, his yearly income was Tk 2.39 crore. The latest affidavit shows the amount has shot up to Tk 11.55 crore.
Similarly, Taposh had bonds and share certificates worth Tk 3.30 lakh in 2008, which became Tk 32.14 crore in five years. In 2018, the amount rose to Tk 42.27 crore.
Taposh's investment in postal and saving certificates, along with fixed deposits, increased more than a thousand times in the past decade.
In 2008, he had an investment of Tk 31.20 lakh in the instruments. The amount increased to Tk 3.03 crore in the 2014 affidavit and Tk 43.20 crore
in 2018.
OBAIDUL QUADER
In the last 10 years, the combined movable assets of Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and his wife increased more than five times, according to the affidavit he submitted to the returning officer.
Net worth of the duo's movable asset rose to Tk 3.75 crore in 2018 from Tk 65.54 lakh
in 2008.
The AL leader has movable assets worth Tk 2.91 crore while his wife has Tk 84 lakh, according to the property disclosure in the affidavit.
Quader's total savings up to 2018, including postal and saving certificates and fixed deposit, are Tk 1.24 crore. They were Tk 71.23 lakh up to 2013 and Tk 15.56 lakh up to 2008.
His wife saved Tk 55.09 lakh in post office, in saving certificates, and fixed deposits, until 2018. The amount was Tk 42 lakh until 2008.
Quader did not own a vehicle in 2008 but his latest affidavit shows that he has a car worth Tk 77.50 lakh.
In 2018, Quader mentioned his profession as private service and showed an annual income of more than Tk 26 lakh with the major sources being leasing out immovable property and salaries and benefits of MP and his “job”.
He also received honorariums for writing books and newspaper pieces.
In 2008, he mentioned
journalism as his profession with a yearly income
Tk 1.40 lakh.
NURUL ISLAM NAHID
When Nurul Islam Nahid became education minister in January 2009, he had Tk 47,000 cash in hand. The amount rose over 75 times in a span of 10 years.
He now has Tk 35.64 lakh cash in hand, according to the affidavit he submitted for the December 30 polls.
In the 10 years, Nahid's annual income increased three times, standing at Tk 16.30 lakh now.
Of the amount, he earned Tk 12.60 lakh from his “occupation”, shows the affidavit for 2018.
According to his affidavit for 2014 election, Nahid had annually earned Tk 17.72 lakh.
An analysis of the affidavits submitted before the elections held in 2008, 2014, and 2018 shows a gradual rise of his and his wife's movable property.
Nahid in 2008 stated that he had moveable properties worth Tk 23.57 lakh. It went up to Tk 98.30 lakh before the 2014 polls and up to Tk 1.58 crore now, six and a half times of what he had in 2008.
He mentioned that Tk 39.72 lakh of it was in bonds, letters of credit, and shares. Besides, he had Tk 20 lakh in savings at the post office, saving certificates, and fixed deposits.
Nahid has vehicles worth over Tk 59 lakh.
His wife's movable assets in 2008 was Tk 11.16 lakh. It increased to Tk 50.17 lakh before the 2014 polls. Nahid's affidavit for 2018 election shows his wife's moveable assets increased to Tk 58.17 lakh.
About Tk 50 lakh was saved at the post office, in saving certificates, and fixed deposits.
HASANUL HAQ INU
Hasanul Haq Inu, president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, had a deposit of Tk 71,917 with banks and financial institutions in 2008. He now has deposits of Tk 44.51 lakh.
The information was shown in the affidavit he submitted to the returning officer's office for December 30 polls.
Inu's wife had around Tk 8,081 as deposit in 2008 but now she has around Tk 14.28 lakh.
An analysis of Inu's affidavits -- submitted ahead of 2008, 2014 and 2018 polls -- shows a gradual rise in annual income and movable properties of the couple.
The annual income of Inu as "political activist" and "engineer" was Tk 2.84 lakh in 2008, of which Tk 1.94 lakh was "allowance" from his "business". In the affidavit submitted for 2013, he earned Tk 26.36 lakh from the same sources.
This year it has become Tk 34.61 lakh, of which Tk 23.27 lakh is salary and allowance as the information minister. He earned another Tk 7.44 lakh as honorarium from a computer firm.
Inu had movable property of Tk 8.08 lakh in 2008. This year, it is more than Tk 2.11 crores.
Of the amount, Tk 50.66 lakh was showed as cash in hand. He has three vehicles worth over Tk 10.81 crores.
Inu's wife has assets worth Tk 77.79 lakh. Of the amount, Tk 60.03 lakh is cash in hand.
In 2008, she had movable asset worth Tk 3.41 lakh.
Inu also has invested Tk 5.40 lakh in postal and saving certificates, he mentioned in the affidavit.
RUHUL AMIN HAWLADER
When Jatiya Party Secretary General Ruhul Amin Hawlader became a lawmaker from Barishal-6 in 2008, he did not have any fixed deposits or saving and postal certificates.
The status remained the same in his affidavit for the 2014 general election when he contested for the election from Patuakhali-1.
But he now has Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDR) worth Tk 5 crore, according to the 2018 affidavit he submitted to the returning office to contest the election from Patuakhali-1.
Neither Hawlader nor his wife owned any vehicle in 2008.
But in the affidavit submitted for the 2014 polls, he showed that he had two cars and his wife one. In the latest affidavit, Hawlader showed that he owns four cars and his wife two.
In the 2014 affidavit, Hawlader mentioned that there were four cases against him. In 2008, there were six and, now he is facing three.
Hawlader earns through business (house rent). In 2008 his yearly income was Tk 13.14 lakh. According to the 2014 affidavit, his income rose to Tk 1.76 crore. The amount has gone up to Tk 21.51 crore this year.
He has moveable property worth Tk 24 lakh in 2008 and in a span of five years it jumped up tp Tk 24.95 crore. This year, it rose to
Tk 37.52 crore.
MIRZA FAKHRUL ISLAM ALAMGIR
Income and assets of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has increased significantly in the last 10 years.
During this period, 46 cases have been filed against him, but he faced none in 2008, according to his affidavit submitted to the Election Commission.
Thirty-five of his cases are now pending with different courts. The BNP nominee for Thakurgaon-1 and Bogura-6 has been exempted from charges in the rest of the lawsuits.
BNP sources said most of the cases have been filed against Fakhrul during this tenure of the AL-led government.
The affidavit shows that the annual income of Fakhrul and his family members has increased to Tk 52.35 lakh from Tk 11.45 lakh in 2008.
The BNP leader himself earns Tk 11.31 lakh annually from agriculture, business, investment in share of companies and securities, consultation, service and other sources.
His family members' annual income is Tk 41.03 lakh. They earned the money by renting out shops and houses, investing in securities and shares and doing jobs.
In the affidavit, Fakhrul said the current moveable property of him and his family members is worth Tk 88.80 lakh and immovable property Tk 51.65 lakh, up from Tk 62.29 lakh and TK 47.76 lakh respectively in 2008.
Fakhrul will contest the December 30 parliamentary polls from Bogra-6 if BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, now serving a jail term for graft, can't run in the election.
AMIR KHASHRU MAHMUD CHOWDHURY
The annual income of the BNP's Chatttogram-11 aspirant Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury increased over five and a half times in the last 10 years, according to the affidavits he submitted to the returning officer's office.
In 2008, the BNP standing committee member had a yearly income of Tk 13.30 lakh leasing out houses, flats and shops. He had mentioned “business, partnership and Meher Housing Company” as professions.
In 2018, his annual income stands at Tk 73.65 lakh. He earned from shares, savings certificates, bank deposits, leasing out houses, flats, and shops, and from agriculture, according to his affidavit.
There were two cases against Khashru in 2008 which were stayed by the High Court.
Now, he has 14 cases against him, most of them filed between 2013 and 2018 and under trial.
In 2008, he had moveable properties worth Tk 4.78 crore which increased to Tk 4.89 crore in 2018.
MOUDUD AHMED
In 10 years, senior BNP leader Moudud Ahmed's annual income has dropped while the number of cases against him increased sharply.
Moudud, also a Supreme Court lawyer, in his affidavit submitted for Khulna-5 mentioned that his yearly income is Tk 61.54 lakh and his wife's Tk 11.99 lakh.
In 10 years, his yearly income has gone down by more than Tk 12 lakh and he suffered loss of Tk 17.75 lakh for maintaining his chamber this year.
In 2008, he had moveable property worth Tk 10.42 crore while his wife Tk 16.75 lakh.
In 2018, his moveable property slightly increased and it is worth Tk 12.46 crore. His wife's property rose manifold and it is worth Tk 2.25 crore.
Moudud had Tk 8.94 crore in 2008 as postal and saving certificates and fixed deposit. It stood at Tk 9.98 crore this year.
Ten years ago, Moudud's wife did not have any postal and saving certificates or fixed deposit, but the latest affidavit shows she has now Tk 1.28 crore.
Moudud, a standing committee member of BNP, and his wife both have 100 tola of gold each.
In 2008, the former law minister had only one case but in 10 years the number of cases increased to 24.
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