ACC submits chargesheet against Toufique Imrose Khalidi to court

A chargesheet has been submitted to the court in a case against online news portal bdnews24.com chief editor Toufique Imrose Khalidi by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

The chargesheet was filed by the investigating officer of the case, ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar Pradhan, recently.
Inspector Md Aminul Islam of the ACC Court submitted the chargesheet to the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad Ash Shams Jaglul Hossain on Sunday. The court has set June 10 next for hearing on the receipt of the chargesheet.

Toufique Imrose Khalidi is now on bail in the case.

Akkas Ali, an officer of the General Registration Branch of ACC, confirmed it.

On July 30, 2020, ACC filed a case against Khalidi on charges of acquiring wealth beyond his known sources of income.

According to the case documents, Khalidi possesses Tk 42 crore in four accounts with HSBC, Eastern Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mutual Trust Bank Ltd, for which the ACC said no legal source was found.

On November 5, 2019, the ACC served a notice on Khalidi asking him to appear before it over an investigation into 'inconsistencies' over his wealth.

The notice said that Khalidi's statement was required in connection with allegations of 'transferring a huge amount of money' by 'hiding location' by himself and bdnews24.com, and 'earning wealth inconsistent with his known income through illegal activities.'

On November 26, 2019, the ACC quizzed Khalidi for nearly five hours at its Segunbagicha head office.

However, Khalidi has denied the allegations, terming the chargesheet as "ridiculous, irrational and baseless."