Ex-DGHS driver Malek gets 13 years for illegal wealth

A Dhaka court has sentenced Abdul Malek, the controversial former driver of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), to 13 years of rigorous imprisonment on two separate counts in a case related to illegal wealth accumulation.

Judge Zakaria Hossain of Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-6 delivered the verdict in the presence of the accused on Sunday. After announcing the verdict, the court issued a warrant of conviction and ordered Malek’s imprisonment.

On February 15, 2021, Syed Nazrul Islam, an assistant director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), filed the case against Abdul Malek on charges of amassing illegal wealth and concealing information about his assets.

According to the case statement, Malek concealed information regarding immovable and movable assets worth Tk 93,53,648 in the wealth statement submitted to the ACC. Additionally, he illegally accumulated immovable and movable assets worth Tk 1,50,31,810 beyond his known sources of income and retained possession of them.

Earlier, on September 20, 2020, Malek was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from the Turag area of the capital with a foreign pistol and counterfeit currency. He was charged under the Arms Control Act and the Special Powers Act at Turag Police Station. On September 19, 2021, Dhaka’s Additional Third Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court sentenced him to a total of 30 years in prison, sentencing him to 15 years for each count.

Meanwhile, Judge Zakaria Hossain of Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-6 set April 16 as the date for delivering the verdict in another case filed by the ACC against Malek.