Tax file worth Tk 237 crore was valid with a bribe of crores of taka! Hidden deal caught

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has found evidence that Jannatul Ferdous Mitu, the dismissed Assistant Tax Commissioner of NBR Tax Zone-5, had validated a tax file worth Tk 237 crore 59 lakh by paying a bribe of crores of taka.

According to initial information, he had made a bribe agreement of crores of taka with Mitu to complete and arrange the tax file of Salah Uddin Ahmed, the head of SA Group and owner of SA Paribahan. In return, a bribe of Tk 38 lakh was paid. In exchange for the bribe, Mitu handed over the sensitive documents including the 12-year old income tax return to the businessman and his lawyer Obaidul Haque Sarkar.

On Sunday (October 5), the ACC enforcement team conducted a raid in Tax Zone-5, Dhaka. Initially, evidence of the transfer of documents through bribery was collected. The ACC statement said that since the initial truth of the allegations was confirmed, a full report will be submitted after reviewing the records in detail.

NBR sources said that an agreement of Tk 1 crore was made with Mitu, Assistant Tax Commissioner of Tax Zone-5. By arranging tax files for 12 tax years, income of Tk 237.59 crore was added to the tax-exempt service sector. Businessman Salah Uddin had evaded taxes repeatedly before, but did not get a verdict in his favor in the law and court. Later, his lawyer came up with a new plan and made a bribe agreement of Tk 1 crore with the circle officer.

Mitu was temporarily suspended on September 1 on charges of accepting bribes. At the same time, the bank accounts of taxpayer Salah Uddin Ahmed and his lawyer Obaidul Haque Sarkar have been frozen. The initial investigation into this incident also revealed the transfer of unusual assets worth Tk 449 crore, in which a total of 35 people including Putul, Salman, Aziz Khan may be involved.

The ACC said that state revenue was lost through collusion and bribery by dishonest officials of Tax Region 5, and the commission is continuing its investigation into this matter.