Staff Correspondent:

The Appellate Division on Tuesday set March 6 for delivering its verdict on the appeal against the conviction of BNP  acting chairman Tarique Rahman and businessman Giasuddin Al Mamun in a money laundering case.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed fixed the date after concluding the hearing on their petitions.

Barrister Sheikh Mohammad Zakir Hossain stood for the petitioners at the court while lawyer Asif Hasan appeared for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Earlier, on December 10, the Appellate Division granted leave to appeal in the case following a petition by Mamun .

Later, Mamun appealed against the High Court verdict.

The ACC filed the case on October 26, 2009 with Cantonment Police Station in Dhaka accusing Mamun of laundering Tk 20.41 crore to Singapore.

According to the case statement, Mamun received the amount from Khadija Islam, chairman of Nirman Construction Company Ltd, in exchange for awarding the contract for an 80MW power plant in Tongi.

The money was transferred to a Citibank NA account in Singapore under Mamun’s name.

On July 6, 2010, the ACC submitted a charge sheet against Tarique Rahman and Giasuddin Al Mamun.

The court framed charges against them on August 8, 2011.

During the trial, testimonies from 13 witnesses, including FBI agent Debra Laprovette, were recorded.

On November 17, 2013, the Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-3 acquitted Tarique Rahman but sentenced Giasuddin Al Mamun to seven years in jail with a Tk 40 crore fine.

Following the verdict, the ACC filed an appeal on December 5, 2013, against Tarique Rahman’s acquittal.

The High Court accepted the appeal for hearing on January 19, 2014. After hearing both appeals, the High Court on July 21, 2016, sentenced Tarique Rahman to seven years in jail and fined him Tk 20 crore while upholding Mamun’s conviction.

Mamun later challenged the High Court verdict in the Appellate Division.