The National Board of Revenue on Wednesday has frozen bank accounts of former Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Shitangshu Kumar Sur Chowdhury (SK Sur Chowdhury) and his wife Suparna Sur Chowdhury suspecting that they might have evaded tax.
The Central Intelligence Cell of the revenue board on Wednesday asked chief executive officers and managing directors of all banks and financial institutions to suspend withdrawal and transfer of money from accounts maintained by the duo with the banks and financial institutions.
The CIC issued the order to protect the government’s revenue interest, according to the letters sent to the CEOs and MDs.
The letters also asked the CEOs and MDs to furnish a compliance report immediately containing the latest balance in the accounts.
Earlier on February 22, the CIC sought financial information of SK Sur Chowdhury and some others from the banks and financial institutions.
The CIC usually takes the steps suspecting tax evasion and concealment of assets as part of investigation into the tax payment status of a taxpayer.
Officials said that the NBR’s intelligence wing found significant evidence of suspected financial transactions in the accounts and concealment of income in the income tax returns.
The CIC froze the bank accounts fearing that the money could be transferred or withdrawn by the account holders and the tax authorities might lose its tax if the transactions are not suspended, they said.
Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit and Anti-Corruption Commission has also taken various steps, including travel ban, against SK Sur Chowdhury, his wife and some other people over their alleged link with former NRB Global Bank managing director Prasanta Kumar Halder, a fugitive in a money laundering case.
The move came following a confessional statement given by former International Leasing and Financial Services Limited managing director Rashedul Haque before a Dhaka court on February 3, in which he had said that at least two senior Bangladesh Bank officials had helped PK Halder in most stages of the embezzlement process.
Rashedul, a key associate of former NRB Global Bank managing director PK Halder, gave the confessional statement after a three-day ACC interrogation in a case.
Rashedul also shared with the ACC the names of some BB officials who had allegedly helped PK Halder to embezzle about Tk 3,000 crore from the leasing company.
He informed the investigator that PK Halder had regularly used to give money as bribe to a section of BB officials involved in audit and inspection of non-banking financial institutions.
Halder is facing charges of embezzling over Tk 10,000 crore, which he took out as loans from different financial institutions in the name of companies owned by him and his family members.
Apart from International Leasing, Halder also embezzled money from other financial institutions, including People’s Leasing and Financial Services.
