Five years after the initiation of an inquiry by the Anti-Corruption Commission into the unauthorized release of banned memory cards, those accountable for the importation and distribution of the goods continue to evade responsibility.
The consignment of goods, with a value of Tk 6.32 crore, was cleared by Dhaka Customs House for a mere Tk 31.7 lakh in duties and fines. However, the primary concern is not the financial aspect but rather the manipulation of the system to clear the banned products initially and then protect the suspects involved.
Despite the turnover of three investigating officers in the past five years, the investigation has yet to reach a conclusion. The current Investigating Officer, ACC Deputy Director Md Asaduzzaman, assumed his role in October this year and declined to provide any comments at this point.
Earlier in 2023, charges were filed by the ACC against seven individuals, including importer Mamun Howlader, two customs officials, and four officers from the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports (CCIE).
According to case records, Mamun allegedly brought in 2.1 lakh prohibited memory cards through Dhaka airport and subsequently removed them from the warehouse, reportedly with the assistance of two customs officials.
The four CCIE officials accused in the case were alleged to have granted the clearance permit for the items. However, the previous ACC Investigating Officer, Deputy Director Subel Ahmed, excluded the four individuals from the case citing insufficient evidence. The ACC dismissed the report due to “significant procedural deficiencies” as it failed to identify the responsible parties.
The CCIE officials implicated in the case claim that the ACC did not interrogate or investigate the customs officials who authorized the release of the consignment. They also allege that the ACC intentionally prolonged the investigation to shield those implicated.
Despite the Clearance Permit explicitly prohibiting the release of prohibited items, the former Dhaka Customs Commissioner Moazzem Hossain authorized the release on March 1, 2020, as per customs documents. Nevertheless, neither the ACC nor the NBR interrogated him during the past five years.
Moazzem denied any misconduct, while Mamun did not respond to attempts to contact him.
SEIZURE AND RELEASE
On June 11, 2016, officials at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport confiscated the memory cards from passenger Mamun Howlader. Subsequently, on January 16 the following year, Dhaka Customs House confiscated the items under the Anti-Smuggling Act after Mamun confessed to lacking a clearance permit (CP) from the commerce ministry.
The issue lingered for four years, and in January 2020, a court ordered the goods to be returned to Mamun on the condition that he obtained the necessary CP.
In the subsequent month, Mamun acquired the clearance permit from the commerce ministry, but both the NBR and the ACC deemed the adjudication order unlawful.
A three-member NBR committee, led by additional commissioner Md Mahbubur Rahman, reported on September 14, 2020, that the permit and clearance directive required revision.
The committee highlighted that the goods were classified as “stock-lot” items, explicitly prohibited under the Import Policy Order, and held customs officials accountable for the release of the goods.
The committee also discovered that Mamun, with the assistance of staff, removed the goods from the warehouse even before receiving the official release order.
Moazzem Hossain, when contacted, stated that he was unaware of the consignment being imported as stock-lot. He mentioned that the importer concealed this information, leading to the oversight. He explained that he merely executed the court order.
Customs regulations demand duties to be calculated based on the higher of the declared value or the official assessed value. In this scenario, officials utilized the purchase invoice, resulting in revenue of only Tk 21 lakh instead of nearly Tk 3 crore, with a penalty set at Tk 10 lakh, according to documents.
When questioned about the oversight regarding the “stock-lot” designation on the invoice, Moazzem referred to the responsibility falling under the relevant assessment group. He noted that due to the prolonged delay in the consignment and the existing court order, a more thorough verification was unfeasible.
He also mentioned that he subsequently established an inquiry committee, which confirmed the presence of prohibited items in the shipment.