Memory card scandal: Five years on, culprits remain untouched

Five years after the Anti-Corruption Commission launched an investigation into the illegal release of banned memory cards, those responsible for importing and releasing the goods remain unaccountable.

The stock-lot goods, valued at Tk 6.32 crore, were cleared through Dhaka Customs House for just Tk 31.7 lakh in duty and fine. But the real concern is not the money, but how the system was manipulated first to clear the banned products and then to shield the suspects.

In the last five years, three investigating officers have come and gone, yet the probe remains inconclusive. The current IO, ACC Deputy Director Md Asaduzzaman, took charge in October this year. He said he is unable to comment at this stage.

Earlier in 2023, the ACC pressed charges against seven individuals -- importer Mamun Howlader, two customs officials, and four officers of the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports (CCIE).

Case documents show that Mamun brought 2.1 lakh prohibited memory cards through Dhaka airport and later removed them from the warehouse, allegedly with support from two customs officials.

The four CCIE officials -- Assistant Controllers Mamun Iftekhar Rahman and Fatema Khatun, Deputy Controller Moniruzzaman Khan, and Controller Awlad Hossain -- were accused of issuing the clearance permit for the items.

But the immediate-past ACC investigation officer, Deputy Director Subel Ahmed, relieved the four from the case, citing a lack of evidence. However, the ACC rejected the report over "serious procedural flaws" because he failed to identify those responsible.

CCIE officials accused in the case say the ACC neither questioned nor investigated the customs officials who allowed the consignment to be cleared. They also allege that the ACC has deliberately prolonged the probe to shield those involved.

Customs documents show that although the Clearance Permit explicitly barred the release of prohibited items, the then Dhaka Customs Commissioner Moazzem Hossain released it on March 1, 2020.

Despite his direct role, neither the ACC nor the NBR questioned him in the last five years.

Moazzeem denied any wrongdoing. Mamun did not respond to our calls and text messages.

THE SEIZURE AND RELEASE

On June 11, 2016, officials at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport seized the memory cards from passenger Mamun Howlader. On January 16 next year, Dhaka Customs House confiscated the items under the Anti-Smuggling Act after Mamun admitted he had no clearance permit (CP) from the commerce ministry.

The issue dragged on for four years, and in January 2020, a court ordered the goods to be returned to Mamun on condition that he obtained the required CP.

The next month, Mamun managed to receive the clearance permit from the commerce ministry, but both the NBR and the ACC termed the adjudication order illegal.

A three-member NBR committee led by additional commissioner Md Mahbubur Rahman reported on September 14, 2020, that the permit and clearance order needed revision.

The report said the goods were "stock-lot" items, explicitly banned under the Import Policy Order. The report also blamed customs officials for releasing the goods.

The committee also found that Mamun removed the goods from the warehouse with the help of staff even before receiving the official release order.

Contacted, Moazzem Hossain said he was unaware that the consignment had been imported as stock-lot. "The importer concealed this information, so none of us detected it at first. I only executed the court order."

Customs rules require duties to be calculated on the higher of the declared price or the official assessed value. But in this case, officials used the purchase invoice, resulting in revenue of only Tk 21 lakh instead of nearly Tk 3 crore. The penalty was set at just Tk 10 lakh, documents show.

Asked why the invoice's reference to "stock-lot" was ignored, Moazzem said the issue fell under the assessment group concerned. "The consignment had already been delayed for a long time, and with a court order in place, more detailed verification wasn't possible."

He said he himself later formed an inquiry committee, which confirmed the shipment contained prohibited items.