ACC has traced 6053 percent of the land of Zahid Malek family
September 16, 20246 Mins Read

Jumbangla Desk: Zahid Malek Swapan. Member of Parliament four times during the Awami League government. During one term, he served as the Minister of State for Health and the other as Minister. He used his power to steal thousands of rupees. The details from the report of Human Land are:

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigation has revealed the huge wealth of Zahid Malek and his sons and daughters. The organization has got the information of 6 thousand 53 percent land in the name of this family in one Manikganj. ACC recently wrote to the district sub-registrar's office seeking information on assets held in the name of Zahid Malek and his family members. In response to that letter, 6,53 percent of the land was mentioned in their name. A senior source in the ACC confirmed this information.

According to ACC sources, 2,193.053 percent of the land purchased in different mauzas of Manikganj district is in the name of Zahid Malek. One thousand 742.016 percent of land was purchased in the name of his son Rahat Malek and one thousand 118.78 percent in the name of daughter Cynthia Malek. The ACC investigators believe that the market value of this large amount of land will exceed thousands of crores of rupees. However, the deeded value of the land shows the price to be much lower.

An ACC official, who did not want to be named, said, "We have just started the investigation." We are accused of owning huge wealth through abuse of power during the tenure of the former Health Minister. As part of these complaints, I wrote to Manikganj seeking information about assets held in the name of Zahid Malek and his family members. According to the information provided by the office of the sub-registrar, the information about these lands of the former health minister has come.

This ACC official also said that apart from Manikganj land, there is information about houses and flats in different parts of Dhaka. The search for these resources has already started. According to ACC sources, there are 91 deeds in the name of son Rahat Malek, 22 in the name of daughter Cynthia and 46 deeds in the name of Zahid Malek.

ACC officials involved in the investigation said that a project was passed for setting up a factory in Manikganj of the government drug manufacturing company Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL). The project was passed by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on April 5, 2022. The total cost is estimated at 1 thousand 905 crores. Out of this, the expenditure for land acquisition is Tk 115 crore 66 lakh. The Ministry of Health will implement this project with government funding.

The implementation period is from April 2022 to March 2027. 31 and a half acres of land is proposed for the project in Meghshimul area of ​​Jagir Union of Manikganj Sadar Upazila. Most of the lands in which these lands have fallen are in the name of the former health minister and his sons and daughters. Some lands were also deeded in the name of the girl's husband. They had planned to sell the land at three times the price if the project is passed.

The then Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Abdul Latif also wrote a letter to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare saying that the government would suffer a loss of Tk 100 crore. As a result, the movement for his removal was led by Zahid Malek's cousin Shamim Mia. Later the project was shelved.

According to the investigation sources, Zahid Malek has stolen billions of rupees by sharing in the development work of various projects including the purchase of various hospitals, recruitment, promotion, transfer, posting, medical services, equipment used in treatment, supply of medicines, through abuse of power while he was a minister. Former Health Minister Zahid Malek has been banned from leaving the country. Apart from ACC, Bangladesh Bank's financial intelligence agency Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) is investigating.

According to sources, Zahid Malek built an empire of corruption during the rule of Awami League. He built a mountain of wealth through these corruptions. According to the ACC complaint, his assets include Alishan house in Dhaka's Gulshan, 14-storey BTA tower in Banani, 10-storey commercial building in Manikganj town, Shubhra Center built for meetings and gatherings. It is alleged that Zahid Malek has defrauded millions of customers of Sunlife Insurance while it was owned by his family.

Sources also said that an investigation has been started against the former health minister Zahid Malek for embezzling tens of thousands of crores of rupees through a syndicate by making fake corona vaccines, kits, fake masks and showing fake imports during the global pandemic. Even through the syndicate, he has grabbed billions of rupees by sharing in the development work of various projects including the purchase, recruitment, promotion, transfer, posting, medical services, equipment used in treatment, medicine supply of various hospitals. He has built more than a dozen businesses using these corrupt money in names and names.

According to sources related to the investigation, fake N-95 masks were made and imported in a factory in Munshiganj during the Corona epidemic. These masks were given to hospital doctors. Rahat Malik, the son of the former health minister, Asadul Islam, the secretary of the health care department, and Dr. Abul Kalam Azad, the former director general of the health department, have directly grabbed thousands of taka with this work. Such information also came out in various media during the Corona period.

According to a research report of the anti-corruption organization Transparency International Bangladesh or TIB, the coronavirus crisis is manifesting due to irregularities, corruption and incompetence in the health sector. In this disaster situation, the government is providing protective equipment including substandard masks, PPE at 5 to 10 times additional cost. For that reason, the control of these purchases was alleged to be in the hands of a syndicate in that report.

The TIB alleged that a syndicate was controlling all purchases in the name of various firms and that a section of Health Ministry officials were involved. The issue of providing general surgical masks on packaging labeled N-95 masks in various hospitals has been highlighted. The report mentions receiving complaints of various types of corruption in various medical supplies, starting from the purchase of PCR machines, blood collection tubes and syringes for the coronavirus test.

According to the affidavit given by Zahid Malek to the Election Commission before the last 12th National Parliament elections, both his income and assets have increased during this time. Analyzing the election affidavits of 2008, 2018 and 2024, it can be seen that the annual income of the health minister for house or apartment or other rent, business, shares, bank deposits and other accounts is eight crore 29 lakh 97 thousand 25, which was 71 lakh 34 thousand in 2008. 691 Rs. Accordingly, in the last 15 years, his annual income has increased by 7 crore 52 lakh 62 thousand 334 taka. That is, his annual income has increased 11.63 times in the last 15 years. According to the affidavit of 2018, his annual income was 2 crore 20 lakh 83 thousand 211 taka. Accordingly, in the last five years, his annual income has increased by 6 crore 9 lakh 13 thousand 814 taka. In other words, his annual income has increased three and a half times in the last five years.

Movable assets also increased
According to information obtained from the affidavit, the amount of movable assets of Health Minister Zahid Malek has increased 10.37 times in the last 15 years and more than half in the last five years. This time, the financial value of his movable assets in terms of cash, foreign currency, deposits in banks and financial institutions, bonds and debentures, vehicles and others is 70 crore 33 lakh 66 thousand 661 taka, which was 6 crore 78 lakh 53 thousand 57 taka in 2008. Accordingly, in the last 15 years, the financial value of the health minister's movable assets has increased by Tk 63 crore 22 lakh 13 thousand 604.

In 2018, the amount of his movable assets was 42 crore 24 lakh 46 thousand 571 taka. Accordingly, in the last five years, the amount of his movable assets has increased by 28 crore 9 lakh 20 thousand 90 taka, i.e. 1.66 times more.