The High Court has upheld the order to freeze 191 bank accounts worth Tk 417.4 million in the names of Aziz Khan, chairman of Summit Group, brother of former MP Faruk Khan of Gopalganj-1 constituency, his family and his stakeholders.

The High Court bench headed by Justice JBM Hasan passed the order on Sunday (August 24). Advocate Mahmudul Arefin Swapan appeared for the ACC in the court while Barrister Mostafizur Rahman Khan appeared for the Summit Group.

Earlier, on March 9, the court ordered the freezing of 191 bank accounts worth Tk 417.4 million in various banks in the names of Summit Group Chairman Aziz Khan, his family and his stakeholders.

Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain Ghalib issued the order following the ACC’s application.

ACC Public Relations Officer Akhtarul Islam said that the ACC requested the freezing of 191 bank accounts worth Tk 417.4 million in the name of Summit Group and its stakeholders. The court granted the request.

ACC Deputy Director Alamgir Hossain had filed an application seeking to freeze these bank accounts.

The application states that an investigation is underway against the Summit Group and their affiliated institutions for various allegations, including illegal acquisition of wealth through bribery and corruption and money laundering, and for smuggling crores of taka abroad. During the investigation, information was found on savings, FDR and other accounts in their names. There is a huge amount of money deposited in these accounts – which is unusual and suspicious. During the investigation, it was revealed that there is a possibility of smuggling or hiding these funds abroad at any time.

In the interest of proper investigation, it is necessary to block 41 crore 74 lakh 760 taka deposited in 191 bank accounts as per Section 14 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2012.