Staff Reporter :
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Iqbal Mahmud on Sunday said that in 90 per cent case wife does not know anything about the acquisition of her husband’s income which is shown in the name of his wife’s income.
Whereas, the innocent woman is being accused under the law who does not know anything about illegal income her husband. So, the ACC is thinking of protecting such women from the legal framework, he said.
The ACC chairman said this while speaking as the chief guest at a meeting of the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on ‘Family Liability, Income Role, Risk and Doing of Revenues and Property Managed by Corruption’ organized at MIDAS centre in the city.
In this context, Iqbal Mahmud mentioned a total of 118 cases of this kind from the year 2015 to 2017.
“Women are becoming victims of corruption. There was no solution to the issue. Who does not know anything, why do I accuse her? After working for two years at ACC the cases got baffled. Before making a decision, I will talk to women organizations and ministries,” he added.
Iqbal Mahmud also said, “In the last two years we have got a woman who knows about her husband’s illegal income.”
He said the women accused in the cases say they do not know anything, but they have signatures on paper. They are also in the director or any other post. So, women have to be aware. Before signing the bank check or empty check, she will know why she is signing.
TIB Program Manager Shammi Laila Islam presented a paper prepared by it on different statistics of the ACC. It has been said that in the last one decade, 29 cases filed by ACC were awarded to the court for financing the husband’s corruption work or acquiring known unutilized assets or for concealing information. 26 of the 29 people have been convicted for helping husband’s corruption. Of them, 25 have been sentenced for three years and one for two years’ normal jail. From 2007 to March this year, in almost all the cases, the amount of money or property earned illegally has been confiscated, which amounted to Tk 50 lakh to Tk 80 crore.
TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman also emphasized the need for awareness of women so that they do not take responsibility for illegal assets. Likewise, women’s decisions and empowerment are important. He called for ACC’s campaigns in this regard.
Professor Dilara Chowdhury told the meeting that husbands do not listen to their other wives, but only for the sake of corruption, the wives are forced to comply with.
Khushi Kabir, Rokeya Kabir, Shahin Anam, Farah Kabir, Prof Asif Nazrul and lawyer Tanvir Siddique took part in the meeting, among thers.
