Crackdown on casino: Lokman placed on 7-day remand

A Dhaka court today placed Mohammedan Sporting Club director (in-charge) M Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan on a seven-day remand in a case filed against him for amassing wealth of Tk 4.34 crore illegally.

Dhaka Senior Special Judge KM Emrul Kayesh passed the order after ACC Assistant Director Saiful Islam, also the investigation officer of the case, produced him before it with a seven-day prayer.

The same court also fixed November 13 for hearing on a 10-day remand prayer sought for quizzing online casino kingpin Salim Prodhan in a case filed for amassing wealth of Tk 12.27 crore illegally.

The ACC on October 27 filed two separate cases against them with the ACC’s Integrated District Office for their alleged involvement with committing such offences.

According to the case statement, Lokman Hossain showed his non-movable property worth Tk 64.2 lakh and movable property worth Tk 79.7 lakh in the 2018-19 tax year but failed to show any legal source behind the property.

Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) found Lokman’s wife and children have Tk 2.96 crore, but he concealed the information in his income tax statement.

The FIR reads, Lokman collected Tk 21 lakh per month from the casino business at Mohammedan Sporting Club.

He transferred about Tk 41 crore to banks in Australia, it adds.

Since Rab started an “anti-gambling operation” on September 18, Lokman -- also a director of Bangladesh Cricket Board -- was in hiding.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on September 25 arrested him from his Monipuripara residence.

Rab arrested businessman Salim from a Bangkok-bound flight at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on charges of running an online casino and money laundering on September 30.

Salim in his 2018-19 income tax file showed the immovable property of Tk 11.64 crore and movable property worth Tk 20 lakh.

According BFIU, Salim has Tk 54.5 lakh more in savings in different banks but did not point it out in the tax file.

“Salim Prodhan could not show any particular source of Tk 12.385 crore which is incongruent to his known source of income,” reads the FIR.