Partex's Shawkat Aziz Russell sent to jail after surrender in Purbachal plot case
Shawkat Aziz Russell, convicted in a corruption case over plot allocation in Purbachal, has been sent to jail. He is a son of the late M. A. Hashem, founding chairman of Partex Group.
On Sunday (November 1), he surrendered before the court of Judge Md. Abdus Salam of Dhaka's Special Judge Court-9 and sought bail on condition of appealing the verdict. Former Dhaka Bar president Golam Mostafa Khan argued for him, while Khandaker Shamim Hossain opposed bail for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
After the hearing, the court rejected his bail application and ordered him sent to jail.
ACC prosecutor Khandaker Shamim Hossain confirmed the matter, saying the convicted accused had surrendered and sought bail on condition of appeal, but the court rejected the application and ordered him to jail.
Earlier, on October 13, the same court sentenced eight people, including Hashem's two sons Shawkat Aziz Russell and Ashfaq Aziz Rubel and former Rajuk chairman Iqbaluddin Chowdhury, to 14 years in prison — seven years each under two separate sections.
The other convicts are former Rajuk member (development) S. D. Fayez, former member (planning) A. K. M. Wahedul Islam, former member (finance) S. M. Zafar Ullah, former member (administration and land) H. M. Zahurul Haq and former member (estate) Rezaul Karim Tarafdar.
Among the convicts, Rajuk had allocated two 10-katha plots in Purbachal in the names of Shawkat Aziz Russell and Ashfaq Aziz Rubel.
Russell is chairman and managing director of Amber Group and president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA). Rubel is managing director of Partex Group and vice chairman of City Bank.
The ACC counsel said on the day of the verdict that for criminal misconduct the eight accused were given seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Tk 10 lakh, with a further year in default.
He said they were given another seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a Tk 10 lakh fine for criminal breach of trust, with a further year in default. As the two sentences will run concurrently, they will serve seven years each.
The accused had been on bail but did not appear in court on the day the verdict was pronounced. The court therefore cancelled their bail and issued arrest warrants along with conviction warrants.
According to the case details, Rajuk officials allocated one 10-katha plot each in Purbachal to Shawkat Aziz Russell and Ashfaq Aziz Rubel without giving a chance to legitimate applicants. The alleged irregularities were committed through abuse of power between 2001 and 2004, when their father M. A. Hashem was a BNP member of parliament for Noakhali-2.
ACC deputy director Sylvia Ferdous filed the case at Motijheel police station on February 8, 2017. After investigation, deputy director Mirza Zahidul Alam submitted a charge sheet against eight people on September 4, 2018, and the court framed charges and ordered trial to begin on August 26, 2019. During the trial, the court recorded testimony from nine witnesses.
