DHAKA: A Dhaka court Wednesday deferred the indictment hearing against BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s younger son Arafat Rahman Coco and another suspect in a money-laundering case.
The other accused of the case, Ismail Hossain Simon, son of former Shipping Minister Colonel (retd) Akbar Hossain, is absconding.
Judge Mozzamel Hossain of the special Judge Court-3 set October 13 for the hearing in response to a petition filed by special lawyer of the ACC Mosharaf Hossain Kazal.
The petition states: the Attorney-General will attend the hearing of the case, but he could not attend Monday’s hearing due to his preoccupation with the High Court.
Coco’s lawyer, Sanaullah Mia, also Dhaka bar president, appeared before the court on behalf of his client who was released from jail on parole at the fag-end of the past military-backed interim government for treatment abroad.
The charge hearing was to be held Wednesday following a petition filed by Bangladesh Bank for bringing back the money allegedly siphoned off from the country.
On March 17 last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the money-laundering case with Kafrul police station against Coco and Simon.
After investigation, the IO of the case submitted the charge-sheet against the Coco-Simon duo on November 12 the same year.
Bangladesh Bank on July 12 appealed to the government for freezing Tk 6.24 crore allegedly siphoned off by Coco to Singapore.
As per case statement, Arafat Rahman Coco took 28.84 lakh Singaporean dollars and USD 9.32 lakh out of the country in collusion with Simon.
BDST 1545 HRS SEP 15, 2010