Online Desk  :  The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched an investigation against Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on charges of extortion, nomination trading and embezzlement of party funds. ACC Director General Akter Hossain confirmed the matter on Thursday. According to the complaint, after the 11th National Assembly elections in 2018, a bribe of Tk 181 million was accepted for the nomination of MPs for the reserved women’s seat of the Jatiya Party. It is alleged that the main beneficiary of this financial corruption was the then acting chairman GM Quader. Professor Masuda M Rashid Chowdhury temporarily suspended a leader from his party post for not paying the money as per the agreement and GM Quader’s wife Sharifa Quader became a member of parliament in his place.

Regarding position trading and money laundering, the complaint states that GM Quader became the chairman of the Jatiya Party through fraud and amassed huge money using party position in nomination trading, which was later laundered abroad. Although the central committee of the Jatiya Party has 301 members, 600 to 650 people are currently included, which is proof of position trading. On the other hand, regarding illegal assets, the complaint states that according to the affidavit filed by GM Quader for the 12th national election in 2024, he had Tk 49.88 lakh in cash, Tk 35.95 lakh in the bank and a jeep worth Tk 84.98 lakh in his name. His wife Sharifa Quader has Tk 59.59 lakh in cash, Tk 28.09 lakh in the bank and a jeep worth Tk 80 lakh in his name. He has laundered assets both in the country and abroad (Singapore, London, Sydney) anonymously. ACC Director General said that the ACC’s secret investigation has found preliminary evidence of the allegations against GM Quader. Therefore, the commission has decided to take legal action through a public investigation.