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As soon as the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) began investigating allegations of illegal assets, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed, his wife, and their children withdrew all the money from their multiple bank accounts in a single day.
According to the ACC's progress report prepared for submission to the High Court, Benazir and his family members emptied almost all their accounts in one day. A total of 116 accounts were found in their names. Transactions worth crores of taka were made in these accounts, with many abnormal transactions noted. The five-page main report, along with related data and evidence, spans a total of 42 pages.
The report reveals that a three-member committee was formed on 18 April to investigate Benazir Ahmed and his family members. Since 19 and 20 April were weekly holidays, the committee assumed responsibility on 21 April.
In response to a writ petition, on 23 April, a High Court bench directed an investigation into Benazir and ordered the submission of a progress report on the investigation within two months.
On the very day of the High Court's order, Benazir Ahmed, along with his wife and children, withdrew over 50 crore taka from at least 40 of their 116 bank accounts. Among these, Benazir Ahmed withdrew Tk3,03,02812 from his account at the Community Bank corporate branch, his wife Jeeshan Mirza withdrew Tk3,33,05014 from her account at the same branch and their daughter Farheen Rishta Binte Benazir withdrew Tk16,70,886.
Subsequently, on 28 April, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sent letters to 46 offices, including Bangladesh Bank, RAJUK, various land offices, and sub-registry offices, requesting information on the financial assets of Benazir and his family. Following this, on 29 and 30 April, Benazir and his family withdrew all the money from their bank accounts and transferred it abroad.
Notably, on 29 April, Benazir Ahmed laundered a total of 6,070,000 through an outward clearing transaction from his account at the Sonali Bank local office. Additionally, on 30 April, another Tk14,00000 was withdrawn in cash from the same branch of Sonali Bank.
The report says the preliminary investigations revealed that Benazir Ahmed, his wife Jeeshan Mirza and their daughters Farheen Rishta Binte Benazir, Tahsin Raisa Binte Benazir, and the minor Zaira Zarin Binte Benazir possess a substantial amount of immovable property, including land, houses, flats, plots, resorts, and bungalows.
bd-pratidin/GR
