Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05DHAKA2572
2005-06-05 07:46:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dhaka
Cable title:  

KIBRI INVESTIGATION PROVIDES SNAPSHOT OF POLITICS

Tags:  PGOV PINR ECON CVIS KCRM BG 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 002572 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2015
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON CVIS KCRM BG
SUBJECT: KIBRI INVESTIGATION PROVIDES SNAPSHOT OF POLITICS
AND CORRUPTION IN BANGLADESH


Classified By: Pol/Econ Counselor D.C. McCullough; reason 1.4(b, d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 002572

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2015
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON CVIS KCRM BG
SUBJECT: KIBRI INVESTIGATION PROVIDES SNAPSHOT OF POLITICS
AND CORRUPTION IN BANGLADESH


Classified By: Pol/Econ Counselor D.C. McCullough; reason 1.4(b, d)


1. (C) Police investigators of the murder of Awami League
leader SMS Kibria examined the financial records of the
accused mastermind, Abdul Quayyum, a businessman turned local
BNP politician, who allegedly planned the murder of sitting
parliamentarian Kibria and sought to frame his chief BNP
rival for the crime. Their investigation implicates Quayyum
in a range of questionable transactions that enabled him to
amass assets worth more than $200,000 on an annual salary of
just $7,500.


2. (C) In their report, provided to us along with
supporting documentation as part of the BDG's consultative
process with the FBI, investigators paint a picture of a poor
orphan who engaged in a wide range of criminal activities to
amass personal wealth and prestige as a successful
businessman. They believe Quayyum's wealth derived from
several sources:

-- Rangs Limited, a major trading house, funded the purchase
of pre-IPO shares in Bank Asia by Quayyum, allegedly acting
as an undisclosed nominee for the benefit of Rangs Group Vice
Chairman Abdur Rouf Chowdhury, who was also a director of
Bank Asia. Bank Asia's directors were not allowed to
purchase the pre-IPO shares. Quayyum was apparently chosen
because he was the deputy general manager of a Rangs
affiliated company, Sea Resource Private Ltd. Investigators
uncovered transaction flows of more than $435,000 through
Quayyum's joint bank accounts (with his wife, Suraiya Afroze)
at Bank Asia and Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Ltd. (Dhaka
branch). They also recovered savings bonds worth $128,000
purchased over a two-year period and registered in the names
of Quayyum, his wife, and his two sons, Ruhul Quayyum and
Faisal Quayyum. Investigators describe Suraiya Afroze as a
housewife with no independent income. Investigators say
Quayyum used his connections with directors of Rangs to fund
these purchases.

-- Quayyum established a charitable organization, Shahid Zia
Memorial & Research Council, moving more than $70,000 through
accounts at two separate banks. Some of these funds
allegedly came from a government grant to the NGO for an
education project. Investigators allege Quayyum established
the NGO to further his political ambitions and then diverted
the NGO's funds to his personal use.

-- Quayyum was a member of a securities firm, Sar Securities
Ltd. Investigators cite a six-month period in 2004 in which
he apparently sold more shares than he purchased, ending up
with nearly 4,000 shares of Bank Asia worth $12,700.

-- Investigators also cited a lavish life style, noting
Quayyum's expenses and charitable donations were three times
his monthly income. Quayyum owns an apartment worth $40,000
purportedly purchased from Eastern Housing, but could not
explain the source of the purchase money.

-- Finally, when they arrested Quayyum, investigators
reportedly seized from his office official stamps of the
Registrar of Companies and customs officials, presumably used
in various fraudulent document schemes.


4. (C) Comment: The investigation of Quayyum's finances
illustrates the pervasive weaknesses in Bangladeshi
institutions. The investigation implicates a major trading
house in stock market manipulation and abuse by its officers
of their position on the board of a local bank. Moreover,
the unusual transaction flows in Quayyum's bank accounts
should have triggered suspicious activity reports and
investigations under Bangladesh's anti-money laundering laws.
Quayyum's activities as a securities dealer call into
question the quality of securities regulation, while his
formation of an apparent shell NGO and abuse of government
contracts illustrates problems with the government's
licensing and regulation of NGOs. Although Quayyum's
political ambitions have been stymied, many successful
politicians are believed to rely on equally questionable
financial dealings to generate the wealth underpinning their
political careers.
CHAMMAS