Staff Correspondent, Dhaka
The High Court on Thursday overturned the seven-year prison sentence handed down to Giasuddin Al Mamun in a money laundering case and acquitted him of all charges.
The bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the verdict following Mamun’s appeal against the trial court’s decision.
The case, filed by the ACC on September 22, 2011, at Cantonment police station, alleged that Mamun had demanded an illegal commission from M Shahzad Ali, chairman of BTL and Globe Pharmaceuticals, in 2003 while finalizing a work order for the modernization of railway signalling by a Netherlands-based contractor.
Under duress, Shahzad Ali deposited Tk6.01 crore into Mamun’s NatWest Bank account in London in 2004.
On April 24, 2019, the Dhaka Special Judge Court-3, presided over by Judge Abu Syed Dilzar Hossain, sentenced Mamun to seven years in prison, fined him Tk 12 crore, and ordered the confiscation of Tk 6.01 crore held in his London account.
Following his appeal, the High Court annulled the trial court's verdict after hearing the case.
Mamun was initially arrested on January 30, 2007, and remained in custody until his release on August 6 this year.
The ACC filed a charge sheet against him on April 26, 2008, and charges were formally framed on October 31 of that year. During the trial, nine out of ten witnesses testified against Mamun.
