Following the appeal of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), a Dhaka court has barred controversial National Board of Revenue (NBR) official Matiur Rahman who is alleged to have amassed wealth through corruption, his wife Laila Kaniz and their son Ahmed Taufiqur Rahman Arnab from travelling abroad.
Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad As-Shams Jaglul Hossain gave the order on Monday (24 June).
In the application, the ACC said Matiur, former president of the NBR's Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal, and his family members were trying to leave the country, so a travel ban should be needed to prevent them to go abroad. Moreover, they are also trying to launder money abroad.
Laila Kaniz Lucky, Matiur's wife, is also upazila parishad chairman of Narsingdi's Raipura.
Meanwhile, a three-member committee of the ACC has started to investigate the assets of Matiur Rahman.
Customs official Matiur Rahman, who has been in the limelight over the controversy surrounding a Tk15 lakh goat since Eid-ul-Azha this year, has been removed from his post as the president of the VAT tribunal of the National Board of Revenue and the directorship of state-owned Sonali Bank this week.
The Ministry of Finance issued a notification regarding the removal of Matiur Rahman from the NBR and attaching him to the Internal Resources Division (IRD) on Sunday (23 June).
A young man who is said to be Matiur Rahman's son, reportedly bought a goat for Tk15 lakh from Sadeeq Agro in Mohammadpur during Eid-ul-Azha this year and went viral over it.
Since then, discussions began on the young man, named Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat, and how a 19-year-old can afford such an expensive sacrificial animal along with expensive watches, and cars, and maintain a luxurious lifestyle.
There have been also calls to investigate Matiur for corruption.
Matiur, however, has said Ifat is not his son.
During a television interview, Matiur Rahman said: "I do not have a son named Ifat. I have one son and one daughter. My son's name is Ahmed Toufiqur Rahman and my daughter's is Farhana Rahman.”
“My son is very religious, prays five times a day, and has studied abroad. He left a job worth $100,000 and now lives with us in Bashundhara. The slander that is being spread is reclusive and deeply hurtful,” he added.
Despite these denials, evidence suggesting a familial link surfaced.
Matiur Rahman is said to have two wives.
Further fueling the speculations, Feni-2 Member of Parliament Nizam Uddin Hazari has said that Ifat is indeed the son of Matiur Rahman from his second wife, who is the MP’s maternal cousin.
The MP said Matiur Rahman regularly participates in family events with his second wife and may have denied the relationship out of anger.
