ACC files cases against customs official, wife over illegal wealth

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed two separate cases against customs official Uttam Kumar and his wife, Shilpi Rani Sarkar, on charges of amassing illegal wealth and providing false information in their wealth statements.

Sayed Mohammad Imran Hossain, assistant director of the ACC's Chattogram-1 district office, lodged the cases yesterday.

According to the ACC, Shilpi Rani amassed wealth worth Tk 79.5 lakh in her name using illicit income allegedly earned by her husband.

The amount could not be justified by any legitimate source of income, the commission said.

In the wealth statement she submitted to the ACC on November 19, 2023, Shilpi declared movable and immovable assets worth Tk 1.46 crore. However, ACC verification found her actual holdings to be Tk 1.19 crore. After deducting liabilities, her net wealth stood at around Tk 1.01 crore.

The ACC's analysis determined that her legitimate income amounted to Tk 21.99 lakh, leaving Tk 79.50 lakh unexplained.

Case documents allege that she attempted to justify the assets by fabricating income sources in her tax files and ACC declaration, claiming jobs and business activities that did not exist.

Uttam Kumar, currently serving as a revenue officer at the Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate in Sylhet, has been accused of illegally acquiring Tk 17.27 lakh worth of assets in his own name.

He declared assets worth Tk 55.89 lakh. However, the ACC found that based on his income and expenditure records up to the 2023–24 tax year, he could lawfully accumulate Tk 38.62 lakh.

The remaining Tk 17.26 lakh was deemed disproportionate to his known sources of income.