Afrin Taposh mysteriously owns hundreds of crores taka

Like her husband former Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, his wife Afrin Taposh has also amassed mysteriously hundreds of crores taka within a few years of the erstwhile Awami League government led-by deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The investigation of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has revealed that both Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and his wife Afrin Taposh have adopted illegal methods to whiten the earned black money. 

In their income tax documents, they have presented the same pond twice by showing separate income from fish farming. Separate business in on paper but separate in income tax documents were submitted to the ACC.

Out of this, the income of both of them was about Taka 103 crore from fish farming in the pond alone, it is revealed.

Both the husband and wife have shown the same pond in Gopalganj as fish farming separately in their income tax documents in the same fiscal year. Finally, Afrin Taposh was also caught in the ACC net along with her husband.

Taposh's wife Afrin had reportedly immovable and movable assets worth about Tk 56 lakh in the 2011-2012 fiscal year, but this had become more than Tk 105 crore in the few years of Awami League regime, the ACC's investigation found.

Afrin, with the help of her husband Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, owned assets inconsistent with the known source of income and made unusual transactions worth about Tk 78 crore and about four lakh US dollars in nine bank accounts, the ACC stated.

ACC sources said Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapash took a lease of 47.57 acres of land for 11 ponds in Tungipara Mouza of Gopalganj district from Sheikh Fazlur Rahman Maruf on July 1, 2011 for 3 years until June 2014 for fish farming. But after one year, he leased three of the 11 ponds to his wife Afrin Taposh for 2 years.

However, during the on-site inspection, the ACC found that apart from the three ponds, no other ponds existed on the above mentioned land. The remaining land is included in the housing plot and garden category. Besides, there are garden with various plants.

The ACC investigation team said Taposh and his wife Afrin never cultivated any fish in three ponds and the harsh reality is that it is not possible to cultivate fish there. 

In the income tax documents, Sheikh Fazle Nur Taposh's income from the fisheries sector is Taka 95 crore 24 lakh 44 thousand 31 while his wife Afrin Taposh's income is Taka 7 crore 56 lakh one thousand 309. 

That is, the earnings from the husband-wife's fish farming in three ponds in three years as a separate business are Taka 102 crore 80 lakh 45 thousand 340.

“This income is in no way acceptable,” the ACC stated.