TDS Desk:

Awami League’s (AL) former finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal and his daughter Nafisa Kamal have set their own sugarcane by destroying the country’s economy. Father-daughter and their family members have built a “huge empire of assets” in Dubai by smuggling around Tk 25,000 crores. Lotus Kamal and his family members, who went from being a controversial businessman to a minister in the share market manipulation, have huge wealth in different sectors starting from the housing sector in Dubai.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sources say that the gang led by Mustafa Kamal and his family have grabbed around Tk 20,000 crore including the additional fees fixed by the government in the name of sending workers to Malaysia. The gang extorts huge sums of money from the workers with false promises of jobs.

Before this, in 2010, Mustafa Kamal smuggled around Tk 5,000 crores abroad by manipulating the stock market. The ACC investigation team has started verifying the information about the smuggling of this money to Dubai.

The information published by the European Union or EU Tax Observatory (EUTAX) on May 16 of this year says that in 2022, 532 Bangladeshis’ property ownership (including ownership of properties bought before the end of development or construction) were found in Dubai’s housing sector. Multiple sources confirm that the names of Mustafa Kamal and his family are included in this list.

According to the latest data available, the value of Bangladeshi-owned properties in Dubai’s housing sector is $283 million. Including off-plan properties, this asset value stands at 37 crores 74 lakh dollars.

Professor Dr. Moinul Islam, former Bangladesh Economic Association, says that Mustafa Kamal took the country’s economy to the brink of destruction by enjoying all the government facilities while he was the finance minister. AHM Mustafa Kamal, who served as the finance minister, is responsible for the extreme chaos in the country’s financial sector.

Mustafa Kamal was the MP (Member of Parliament) of Cumilla-10 Constituency for 16 years since 2008. He and his daughter Nafisa Kamal fled the country on July 15 after “sensing” the downfall of the Sheikh Hasina government. The current government has frozen the bank accounts of Mustafa Kamal, his wife Kashmiri Kamal, and his daughter Nafisa Kamal. Bank account transactions of owned businesses have also been seized.

Residents of Mustafa Kamal’s area alleged that “people from all walks of life were held hostage by Kamal’s syndicate during the last 15 years of the Awami League regime”. The one who gave more money could become the chairman and member of the union. Party posts were also obtained in exchange for money!

Every department was run by Kamal. He used to allocate ADB, TR, and Kabikha projects to people of his choice. He used to deduct 30% of these allocations. In this way, hundreds of crores of takas obtained through corruption and irregularities reached Dubai through the syndicate of Kamal and his family. And in that sense, Mustafa Kamal has built a huge fortune in Dubai in the last 15 years.

ACC sources say that when the Malaysian labour market opened in July 2022 after being closed for nearly 4 years, Malaysia was responsible for selecting recruiting agencies to send workers. The Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment sent them a list of 1,520 recruiting agencies. However, only 25 agencies were selected. There was no policy in selecting the agency. It has been seen that former finance minister Mustafa Kamal and his family, along with three former MPs, Awami League leaders, city corporation councilors, and many new organizations in this sector have sent a large number of workers.

Mustafa Kamal’s wife Kashmiri Kamal’s Orbitals Enterprise has sent 7,152 people and daughter Nafisa Kamal’s Orbitals International sent 2,709 workers. The cost per person fixed by the government to send workers to Malaysia is Tk 79,000. However, the syndicate took Tk 5.44 lakh per worker!

On the other hand, many workers went to Malaysia and did not get work due to various complications or some of them returned empty-handed after taking loans. On April 19 this year, a statement was published on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) about the plight of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia – where many Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia live in inhumane and undignified conditions.

Sources say that Mustafa Kamal left the country’s economy in dire straits while in charge of the finance minister. In the 53-year history of Bangladesh, he has shown the “highest failure” by sitting on the post of finance minister. During his tenure, the defaulted loans in the banking sector increased terribly!

In five years of Kamal, the dollar crisis took the worst shape in history. Inflation hit to an 11-year high. Commodity prices have increased at an unusual rate. Irregularities and corruption have also increased in the overall financial sector. Money laundering has increased several times during this time. On the one hand, even though he was not working in the ministry, he did not sit like a duck, instead, he expanded his personal business.

It is reported that one of the 10 syndicates identified for exporting manpower in Malaysia for the first time belongs to Mustafa Kamal’s brother-in-law Arif Hossain. This organization is called ACES, originally owned by Mustafa Kamal. At that time, he was in charge of planning minister. In order to remove the legal obstacles, he put his brother-in-law’s name in the documents. Similarly, during his tenure as finance minister, Kamal granted two licenses in the name of his wife Kashmiri Kamal’s Orbitals Enterprise and daughter Nafisa Kamal’s Orbital International. Out of this are – Orbital Medical Center and Gulshan Medicare Limited.

KAMAL’S WIFE KASHMIRI OWNED MORE ASSETS

In the election affidavit filed by AHM Mustafa Kamal in the 12th National Parliament election, it is seen that Kamal’s total wealth is Tk 41,90,53,714. There are assets worth Tk 62,27,19,478 in the name of his wife. However, several sources close to Kamal’s family say that “even 1 percent of their wealth in the home and abroad did not show”.

STOCK MARKET MANIPULATION

In 2010, Mustafa Kamal was the most accused in the stock market scam. He was then the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Finance. Despite various allegations, he did not have to face any punishment during the Sheikh Hasina government. Millions of stock market investors have become destitute due to the manipulation of his syndicate.

During the 15-year rule of the Awami League government, whenever the talk of share manipulation and forgery came up, these names came up again and again. They put people of their choice in the top positions of regulatory bodies to help manipulate the market. This gang together looted thousands of crores of takas from the stock market.

Various sources say that around Tk 20,000 crores went into the pocket of Mustafa Kamal, the planning minister of the then Awami League government, in the 2010 stock market. Kamal is alleged to have smuggled about Tk 5,000 crore abroad by forging shares.

After 2010, although he was not directly involved in share trading, behind the scenes, the fraud was in the hands of Kamal. With his intelligence, advice, and behind-the-scenes cooperation, one after another manipulative syndicates were formed in the stock market. After the scandal in 2010, an inquiry commission was formed headed by the then-chairman of Krishi Bank, Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled.

In this context, specific charges were brought against Mustafa Kamal in the investigation of Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled. It is recommended to take legal action against them. However, the Awami League government did not take any action against them. He became unstoppable as he did not stand up to the law. He took sole control of the entire stock market.

IRREGULARITIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS

AHM Mustafa Kamal built a 20-storey building with the approval of 14 floors in Gulshan. The 6 floors above the 14 floors have been extended by altering the design. The former finance minister has built a huge building by combining plot no. 59 and 60 adjacent to Gulshan Avenue in Gulshan Circle No. 1 in the capital. RAJUK discussed the matter several times, however, it did not see the light of day due to legal complications.