Air chief marshal (retd) Sheikh Abdul Hannan of the Bangladesh Air Force was arrested in Qatar in connection with corruption charges against him in Bangladesh, an official in Dhaka said on Sunday.
Investigators have traced Hannan’s alleged offshore wealth to Canada and Dubai and uncovered assets registered in the names of his children in three countries. In March, a Dhaka court ordered the seizure of income tax records belonging to Hannan and his wife following two separate applications by the ACC. A court had also ordered the attachment of two apartments owned by the former air chief and the freezing of his bank accounts after the ACC accused him of accumulating wealth beyond his known sources of income. As per media reports, former Bangladesh Navy chief Admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan also faces corruption cases and is currently abroad, although no court has imposed a travel ban on him.
Akhtarul Islam, deputy director of Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), said Interpol had informed the anti-graft agency that Hannan was arrested by Qatari authorities on Thursday.