The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched an investigation into allegations that Sabrina Amin, a deputy commissioner of the Customs, Excise and VAT Department, amassed substantial wealth within just 12 years of joining government service.
 
The ACC has reportedly obtained information about multiple flats, a residential hotel, land, housing projects and shareholdings in various companies allegedly held in her name and those of her family members. The commission has reportedly started examining the sources of these assets, business transactions and their actual ownership.
 
According to documents related to the ACC inquiry, the allegations involve Sabrina Amin, her husband Mohammad Bashir Mia Khadem, brother Riyad Arafat Amin and brother’s wife Afnan Elahi Brishti.
 
According to the sources, Sabrina joined the Customs cadre in 2013 through the 31st Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination. She was promoted to deputy commissioner in January this year. Her employee identification number is 300336.
 
The list of immovable properties mentioned in the ACC documents includes four flats in Banani, a plot in Purbachal, 11 flats at two locations in Dhanmondi and a nine-storey building housing a residential hotel in Uttara’s Sector 7.
 
The documents reportedly mention five flats at House No. 9 on Road No. 2 and six flats at House No. 13/B on Road No. 1 in Dhanmondi. The ACC is verifying the ownership and sources of funds used to secure these properties.
 
Information has also emerged about her alleged investments in several business enterprises alongside her government service.
 
According to the allegations, she owns 86,000 shares in Mutual Properties Limited, 1,500 shares in Mutual Multi Agro Limited and 1,000 shares in Mutual Apparels Limited. She is also allegedly associated with a housing project worth at least Tk300 crore undertaken by Mutual Living Limited. The ACC documents mention ongoing projects on Plot No. 42 in Gulshan-1 and Plot No. 2 on Road No. 7 in Dhanmondi.
 
Riyad Arafat Amin, Sabrina’s brother, is named as the managing director of Mutual Apparels Limited. The company has been accused of securing loans worth hundreds of crores of taka from Janata Bank through alleged fraud involving the overvaluation of assets.
 
It has also been accused of transferring US$2.6 million to Singapore under the pretext of purchasing factory machinery. Another allegation concerns the sale of 72,000 square feet of space on the third floor of the company’s steel building in violation of loan conditions. Janata Bank is reportedly conducting separate investigations into these allegations.
 
Riyad himself has also faced allegations of financial irregularities. These include forging the signature of Khan Mohammad Amir Hossain, owner of Padma Group and the Yunus Centre in Dilkusha, as well as evading taxes by declaring Tk25 crore in income tax documents.
 
The ACC has also reportedly received information that Afnan Elahi Brishti, Riyad’s wife, holds Tk30 crore in cash. Investigators are examining the legitimate source and actual ownership of the money.
 
Sabrina’s husband, Mohammad Bashir Mia Khadem, is an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration at a university. According to the allegations, he purchased shares worth Tk8 crore in a single day on April 2, 2024. Sabrina Amin has reportedly been identified as the source of funds for the investment.
 
The ACC is also examining who actually controls businesses and housing projects operated in her husband’s name. Questions have also been raised over a building under construction at an estimated cost of Tk150 crore on a plot beside Apollo Hospital at Satmasjid Road in Dhanmondi.
 
Another allegation against Sabrina concerns the alleged embezzlement of Tk86 crore from AKM Nuruzzaman, a former commissioner of the Customs and VAT Department. The money was reportedly transferred through cash transactions and various bank accounts.
 
Investigators are looking into the source and purpose of the transactions and whether they are connected to the purchase of 20 acres of land in the Kalampur mouza of Dhamrai.
 
An ACC director familiar with the inquiry said the allegations fall within the commission’s jurisdiction. Following a recommendation from the verification and scrutiny committee, the commission decided to launch an investigation. A senior official has been assigned to examine the matter, the director added.
 
When contacted about the allegations, Sabrina Amin said the properties had been inherited from her family. She claimed that her father was a businessman and owned the ‘Aram Coconut Oil’ company.
 
According to Sabrina, she received the properties through a family deed of distribution, and the assets have been disclosed in her income tax returns. She also claimed that the government was aware of the matter.
 
She maintained that a review of her tax returns and relevant documents would clarify the sources of her wealth.