How Lucky got so lucky!

Laila Kaniz Lucky is the upazila parishad chairman of Narsingdi's Raipura and a retired teacher of a government college.

It has now emerged that the former Bangla literature teacher has, in her name, a huge amount of properties, which do not match with her known source of income, indicating someone may have used her wallet as a safe place to stash wealth.

Lucky is the wife of Dr Matiur Rahman, a member of the National Board of Revenue, who came under the spotlight after his son posted on social media a photo of a sacrificial goat that he claimed to have bought for Tk 12 lakh.

Matiur is now president of the NBR's Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal, a grade-1 job, with a basic monthly salary of Tk 78,000.

Media reports, NBR sources and a number of documents seen by The Daily Star suggest that the highly-connected NBR official and his close and distant family members have great wealth, including significant stakes in various companies.

Matiur did not respond to this newspaper's calls, but denied any wrongdoing while talking to other media outlets.

Laila Kaniz Lucky

Lucky's tax files submitted to the Election Commission before this year's Narsingdi upazila pollsclaim she is worth Tk 10.31 crore, but a closer look indicates she may have understated her wealth by dozens of times.

According to her wealth statement, she owns more than eight acres of mostly non-agricultural land and five flats in Dhaka, but the combined value of all this was shown at only Tk 5.19 crore.

This innocuous-looking list does not even mention her palace-like home in Raipura upazila's Marjal village -- an omission that raises eyebrows due to the opulence of the residence.

Dr Matiur Rahman

The much-talked-about, high-walled compound and two-storey bleached white mansion sits beside neighbours who live in small one-storey homes or huts made of corrugated tin sheets.

The Laila Kaniz Lucky Road, named after her, leads to her mansion.

Shamim Iqbal Munna, of Raipura's upazila engineering office, said that the 123-metre road was built in 2014 at a cost of Tk 14 lakh.

Multiple teachers at the nearby Md Bashir High School, all requesting anonymity, said the land acquisition for that road was done using the school fund, and not with Lucky's money. They said she used her influence to have the road named after her. 

Lucky retired as an associate professor of Bangla at Government Titumir College in the capital four years ago, and according to her tax filings, she gets a pension of only Tk 4.65 lakh per year.

The affidavit also does not mention that she is one of the co-owners of Wonder Park and Eco Resort, a sprawling green expanse with a lake, and lakeside cottages.

This newspaper contacted the eco resort and they confirmed that Lucky's children Ahmed Taufiqur Rahman and Farzana Rahman Ipshita are co-owners.

The eco resort took over certain sections of land from a community graveyard that lies adjacent to it, Altaf Hossain, a local union parishad member, told The Daily Star.

A road in Narsingdi named after Lucky which leads to their mansion. Photo: Star

The Daily Star visited the spot and located three gravesinside the boundary of the eco resort.

The total value of the land of about 133.5 decimals, on which the eco resort is built, is shown at Tk 53.9 lakh -- a figure rejected by Altaf Hossain. He said every decimal of land in the area costs about Tk 5 lakh. This puts the valuation of just the land at least Tk 6 crore.

In addition, Lucky stated in her affidavit that she has a 5 katha Rajuk plot in Dhaka, the value of which is "only Tk 14 lakh". Depending on the location, per katha price of Rajuk plots is much higher.

She also has 155 decimals of farmland, but her affidavit did not mention the value.

Lucky first became upazila chairman uncontested after the then chairman Abdus Sadek died of cancer in December 13, 2022.

Raipura was supposed to go to polls again on May 29 this year, but the Election Commission postponed voting after a candidate died in the run-up to the election.

Lucky's affidavit also shows she owns a flat worth TK 55 lakh in Bashundhara Residential Area, which appears to be an undervaluation.

According to property databases, the price per square feet for flats in the area is upwards of Tk 10,000, meaning even a small 1,000 square feet apartment would cost more than Tk one crore.

The Wonder Park and Eco Resort in Narsingdi where Lucky and her family members have stakes. Photo: Star

In addition, Lucky owns four flats in Sheltech Bithika, a condominium in Mirpur -- the combined value of which was shown at Tk 1.6 crore.

A floor plan obtained from the real estate project's website shows that the flats are 1,525 square feet each, and according to property listings, the price per square feet is Tk 6,850. This puts the total value of the four flats at Tk 4.18 crore -- about four times the amount stated.

A glaring example such undervaluation is the value of her furniture shown in her tax files -- just Tk 75,000.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Lucky said that she and her family are being victimised out of jealousy.

"We're very upset about the events that are unfolding. We're innocent people. Efforts are underway to frame us by dishing out lies along with some truths. My husband did well in his job. Those who are jealous of his professional success have hatched a conspiracy to accuse him of corruption. I don't want to say more."