Mosaddek Ali Falu

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Mosaddek Ali Falu (b. 7 April 1960[1]) is a Bangladeshi politician[2] and a former parliamentarian from BNP.[3] He served as the political secretary to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia[4] between 2001 and 2006. He was in jail[2][4] charged for corruption[2] by the army backed government between 2007 and 2008,[2] and is currently out on bail[5]

Political career

Political secretary to the Prime Minister

Falu began his career in politics as the political secretary to Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.[4] He became a close companion to the Prime Minister, earning her trust.[6] Evidence of this closeness includes Falu being delegated important duties[6] and accompanying Khaleda Zia during her umrahs,[7] among others.

Parliamentarian

In light of Khaleda's two-way loyalty strategy[6] Falu was allowed to contest for the 2004 by-election of the Dhaka-10 constituency when BNP parliamentarian M A Mannan's defection to Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh meant that the seat was vacant (defection from a political party automatically results in the parliament seat to be vacated under Article 70 of the Constitution[8]). Falu won the elections, but the polls were considered to be sham by most observers,[9][10] and according to WikiLeaks, including the United States.[6]

He was sworn in hastily, only after 30 minutes of the release of the official gazette, raising questions.[11] It takes at least 6 hours to prepare for oath-taking after the release of a gazette, and swear-ins from other by-elections were held about a week after official results.[11]

Corruption charges

Following the resignation of Iajuddin Ahmed's caretaker government in January 2007 and the ascension of an army-backed caretaker government, Falu was among the first of many to be arrested on corruption charges - he was arrested on 5 February 2007.[2][4] Soon after his arrest, 15 spotted deers reared illegally were retrieved from Falu's retreat in Savar,[12] and his Savar retreat was ultimately valued at 153 crore taka ($ 22.5 million).[citation needed] He was further charged on multiple counts.

Falu was found guilty on charges of relief embezzlement[13] on June 2, 2008, after spending over a year in prison. He was sentenced 5 years in prison and a fine of 5.35 lakh taka ($ 7,133) or a further one year.[13] The special court convened within parliament campus.[13]

While in jail, he was entitled to division by virtue of being a former parliamentarian. However, he lost division in December 2008 when he was found to have held a meeting with another politician, Islami Oikya Jote leader Mufti Shahidul Islam at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.[14] Previously, an iPod was confiscated from him. He was then sent to Kashimpur jail as a common prisoner. On 18 December 2008, the High Court ruled Falu's detention illegal and ordered bail.[5] He was released on 22 December.[5]

While on bail, Falu tried to make a trip to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with his family in February 2009, and was denied exit by the immigration police.[15]

In another lawsuit regarding the accumulation of wealth illegally and withholding information on assets, the Court halted grafts case[16] and asked the government to explain why the lawsuit should not be scrapped.[16]

He was granted anticipatory bail on another relief embezzlement charge in August 2010.[17]

Business

Falu is the managing director of the private Bengali language channel NTV since 2001, and the Chairman since 2003.[1] Among other businesses he also owns the Bengali language newspaper Amar Desh.[15] Given that NTV's news is avidly followed in the country, Falu can be considered a media mogul.

He also is the chairman of a large private sector bank in the country. His industrial investments include a joint venture with China for manufacturing ceramics, steel fabrication manufacturing company, health care, and consumer products manufacturing company.[1]

Share scam

The probe committee of the 2011 share market scam in Bangladesh identified Mosaddek Ali Falu among the 20 individuals involved in masterminding the scam to their personal benefits;[18][19] specific evidences were available against Falu according to the report.[18] The probe committee found Falu, among others, to operate multiple omnibus accounts used perform the chicanery.[20] However, the Finance Minister AMA Muhith stated that the state would neither disclose the names of the accused officially nor take punitive measures without further investigation.[18]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Profile of Top Management". International Television Channel Ltd. (NTV). Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Falu stripped of division for hospital meet". The Daily Star. December 8, 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  3. ↑ "List of Members of 8th Parliament of Bangladesh Jatiyo Sangsad". Bangladesh Parliament. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Affairs, National Democratic Institute for International (11 February 2007). NDI ELECTION WATCH BANGLADESH (4). p. 2. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Falu freed on bail". bdnews24.com. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Thomas termed Khaleda lazy, Tarique notorious". The Daily Sun. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  7. ↑ "Khaleda makes ziarat of Rawza Mubarak of Prophet Muhammad". Financial Express. September 4, 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  8. ↑ Bangladesh Constitution. 4 November 1972. pp. Article 70. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  9. ↑ Hussain, Ahmede (July 16, 2004). "One Flew over Falu's Nest". Star Weekend Magazine. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  10. ↑ "AL walks out as talks on by-polls denied". Bangladesh Web. 5 July 2004. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Shahidul Islam (4 July 2004). "Swearing in of Falu in haste raises many questions". Bangladesh Web. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  12. ↑ "15 spotted deer captured in Falu's retreat". bdnews24.com. 2 March 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Former BNP MP Falu jailed for relief embezzlement". bdnews24.com. 1 June 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  14. ↑ "Falu stripped of division for hospital meet". The Daily Star. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Falu, ex-min Altaf stopped at airport". bdnews24.com. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "HC halts graft cases against Falu, Hashem". bdnews24.com. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  17. ↑ "Milan's pleas rejected, Falu gets bail,". bdnews24.com. 4 August 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Karim, Anwarul (8 April 2011). "Probe report mentions 20 masterminds of stock-market scam". Banglanews24.com. Retrieved 14 October 2011. 
  19. ↑ "Further probe needed before action: Muhith". The Daily New Age. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011. 
  20. ↑ Rejaul Karim Byron; Md Fazlur Rahman (9 April 2011). "Finger pointed at 60 individuals". The Daily Star. Retrieved 14 October 2011. 
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