Gen Masud remanded over Tk 1.19b graft 

A Dhaka court on Sunday placed former army officer and former Member of Parliament Masud Uddin Chowdhury, a prominent figure during the 2007�"08 caretaker government period, on a four-day remand in a corruption case involving the alleged embezzlement of more than Tk 1.19 billion through the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers for employment in Malaysia.

The order was passed by Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Sabbir Foyez after hearing a remand petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The investigating officer, ACC Assistant Director Md Abul Kalam Azad, had sought a seven-day remand, arguing that further custodial interrogation was essential to uncover the full extent of the alleged financial irregularities and money-laundering activities.

During the hearing, ACC Public Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam urged the court to grant the remand, stating that the accused had played a significant role in the alleged corruption scheme and that further questioning was necessary for the ongoing investigation. Defence lawyers opposed the petition, arguing for the rejection of the remand request, but the court ultimately granted four days instead of the seven sought by investigators.

According to the ACC, Masud Uddin Chowdhury and several others, acting in collusion, allegedly abused their authority to obtain appointments as recruitment agents for sending Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia. Although the government had fixed the official recruitment cost at Tk 78,990 per worker, the accused allegedly collected substantial additional fees from migrant workers through various unlawful means.