The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has acquitted BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and businessman Gias Uddin Al Mamun in a money laundering case, in which the High Court had sentenced them to seven years in prison. The apex court also overturned the High Court’s verdict.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the order. Earlier, on Tuesday (March 4), after hearing the appeal, the bench of the Appellate Division set March 6 as the date for the verdict. Accordingly, the case was listed for hearing today.
On December 10 last year, following an application by Mamun, the Appellate Division granted permission for the appeal and suspended the sentence. Gias Uddin later filed an appeal.
The case was filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on October 26, 2009, at the Cantonment police station in the capital. Subsequently, on July 6, 2010, the court filed the charge sheet against Tarique Rahman and Gias Uddin. On August 8, 2011, the court framed charges against them.
In this case, the testimony of 13 witnesses was recorded, including an outside witness, Debra Leprovet, an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).