Case Filed Against S. Alam’s Two Sons and Eight Others for Tk 750 Million Tax Evasion

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against ten individuals, including the two sons of Saiful Alam, owner of the prominent industrial conglomerate S. Alam Group, on charges of tax evasion amounting to Tk 750 million.

The case was confirmed on Wednesday, 3 September, by Md. Aktarul Islam, Deputy Director of the ACC.

Accused Individuals

The accused include:

According to the FIR, the accused allegedly collaborated in criminal misconduct and forgery, producing fake pay orders which they then misrepresented as legitimate.

• The case involves undeclared funds of Tk 5 billion.
• They were expected to pay Tk 1.25 billion in taxes to legalise these funds, but only Tk 500 million was paid.
• The remaining Tk 750 million constitutes a loss to government revenue.

The charges have been filed under Sections 809/467/468/471/109 of the Penal Code, alongside Section 5(2) of the Anti-Corruption Act, 1947.

Background

• In October of last year, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) temporarily suspended three senior tax officials following allegations that Saiful Alam’s sons received extra benefits in their income tax filings in exchange for bribes.
• Following this, the ACC began an investigation into the matter.
• The Awami League government had permitted legalisation of undeclared money through a 10% tax rate from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

Sources stated that, based on a maximum 25% tax rate, Ashraful and Asadul should have paid at least Tk 1.25 billion on undeclared funds worth Tk 5 billion. However, they reportedly paid only Tk 500 million, effectively laundering the remaining Tk 750 million.

This case highlights alleged collusion between corporate officials and banking authorities in evading taxes and misrepresenting financial documents, signalling ACC’s continuing crackdown on high-profile financial irregularities.