Mia, wife concealed assets in tax returns

When Asaduzzaman Mia retired as the longest-serving Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner in 2019, by his own admission, he went home with about Tk 1.75 crore in service benefits. But that does not give a true picture of his wealth accumulation. Fact is, the career cop and his family became much wealthier long before that.
The five-member family, which includes three children, owns at least two multi-story buildings in Dhaka’s Basundhara and Nikunja, at least four apartments in the capital and Savar and at least 20 acres of farm and non-farm land in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur and Faridpur. The family also owns the majority shares in at least two transport companies and an IT firm set up between 2017 and 2019, an investigation by The Daily Star has found.
It is difficult to put a concrete figure on these assets, but the Anti-Corruption Commission is now looking into allegations of ill-gotten wealth worth at least Tk 200 crore amassed by Asaduzzaman’s family and five of their relatives. The figure is based on open-source information, and a formal investigation is currently underway.

“We have sent letters to various offices and financial institutions seeking information about the movable and immovable assets of 10 individuals related to the Asaduzzaman couple, including their three children,” said an ACC source who has knowledge about the investigation.
Over the last three months, this newspaper has gone through hundreds of pages of tax files, land deeds and other official documents relating to Asaduzzaman, his wife and their three children as well as three of their close relatives.
Judging only from their recent tax records, land deeds and the records of the two transport lines, an IT firm and a gold shop filed with Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC), these eight members of Asaduzzaman’s family and close relatives have assets worth more than Tk 50 crore.
According to their recent tax files, the combined declared assets of the Asaduzzaman couple and their three children, educated at expensive educational institutions at home and abroad, stand at nearly Tk 23 crore.
Of the three children, only their eldest son, Asif Shahadat, is known to have a job, currently employed at a multinational company with an annual pay of Tk 24 lakh after tax. Of the two others, their youngest son, Asif Mahdin, is still a student in the US while their second child, Ayesha Siddika, completed her medical graduation from Bangladesh Medical College in Dhaka a few years ago.
The combined wealth of these three siblings stands at over Tk 8.17 crore, according to their latest tax files.
Asaduzzaman did not respond to our calls, WhatsApp messages and email over the last two weeks, but in an interview with The Business Standard in late June, he denied that any of his family wealth is ill-gotten.
“We have declared our assets in our tax returns,” he told the English daily.

THE CONCEALMENT

But our investigation reveals that the family’s tax files hide much of their wealth, while the rest do not match with their known sources of income. In case after case, they also heavily understated their asset value.
For example, in 2022-2023 tax year, Asaduzzaman declared TK 6.01 crore of assets in his name, but showed no bank deposit, although he showed Tk 1.69 crore of cash in his hand.
This newspaper is also in possession of land deeds showing he owns 1.5 bighas of land in Gazipur’s Chhoto Gobindapur jointly with his youngest son, Asif Mahdin, but he did not list the land in his tax file.
In a glaring case of understatement, the value of his furniture was shown just Tk 50,000. His electricity bill was shown Tk 40,348, or TK 3,362 per month.
His wife Afroza Zaman, officially a housewife, declared Tk 8.24 crore of assets in 2023-2024 tax year. She too did not report her bank deposits in her tax return, although The Daily Star has documents showing she had more than Tk 1.54 crore in at least two banks on June 30, 2024.
She also did not mention her position as chairman at Moumita Transport Limited, where she holds 4,000 shares (40%). Afroza, 59, is also a director of another transport line, Gulshan Chaka, where she holds 2,000 shares (25%). Her tax file does not mention this either.

ASADUZZAMAN’S WEALTH

In his 2022-23 tax return, the former police commissioner declared more than 16 acres of farm land, mostly inherited and “Heba” land, and residential plots in Faridpur, his hometown, Dhaka’s Badda, Savar and Rupganj in Narayanganj.
In Purbachal of Rupganj alone, he has two plots in his name measuring 12.5 kathas. Their purchase value was shown Tk 1,45,60,000. But two local land brokers said residential plots in this area cost around Tk 1 crore per katha.
Suddenly in 2013, he received over 600 decimals or six acres of farmland in “Heba” (gift) from his two sisters and another unnamed donor. The declared price of all his land other than the “Heba” land and inherited land is Tk 2,18,35,140, according to his tax file.
Two sources in real estate companies say the current value of these properties is much higher – at least by 10 times.
Asaduzzaman, who joined police service in 1988, also owns a 1,913-square feet flat along with a 90sqf parking space in Savar. The apartment was bought in 2020, and its stated value in his tax file is Tk 3,00,000, which translates into Tk 156 per square feet.
He has investment (stock, debenture, etc.) worth Tk 1.4 crore, and a Toyota Harrier worth Tk 68,00,000.
AFROZA’S WEALTH

Afroza is richer than her husband.
In just a decade from 2011, she bought multiple pieces of land in Dhaka’s Joar Sahara, Purbachal in Rupganj, Gazipur and Faridpur whose combined deed value was shown at Tk 2.2 crore.
In 2017-2019 alone, she bought 210 decimals of land in Gazipur and Rupganj – 100 decimals in her own name and 110 decimals with a woman named Jubaida Binte Zafor. The total price of these was shown Tk 34.98 lakh or Tk 16,656 per decimal. 
According to her 2023-24 tax file, she has assets worth at Tk 8.24 crore, which is Tk 2.23 crore more than her husband’s total asset a year ago.
That year, Afroza had Tk 1,39,42,816 in Southeast Bank and Tk 15,08,840 in Krishi Bank, but she did not show it in her tax return. The Daily Star has the year closing statements of her accounts at the two banks.
Afroza also employed other tactics to cover up the family’s true worth. This include using nicknames in land deeds and using different signatures at different times.
In a land deed in 2019 in Faridpur’s Alfadanga, her husband’s name was recorded as “Md Mintu Mia”. Relatives say Mintu is Asaduzzaman’s nickname, but nicknames are not allowed in official documents.
In further evidence that she tried to hide her assets, she identified herself as “Alpana Begum” (Alpana is her nickname) and her husband as “Mintu Mia” in four separate land deeds. The Daily Star has each of the four land deeds, showing that she bought 39 decimals of land in Faridpur’s Alfadanga between 2008 and 2011. Her latest tax file has no mention of this land.
Several other land deeds also show she used different signatures at different times, sometimes signing as “Afroza Zaman” and other times as “Afroza Begum”. In both her passport and NID, seen by The Daily Star, she used “Afroza Zaman” as her official signature.

TRANSPORT LINES, IT FIRM

Afroza and her two elder children own majority shares in at least three companies registered with the RJSC. However, their tax files mention their stakes in only one of the three – Saphire Consortium Limited.
Saphire is an IT firm set up in September 2018, whose official address is same as the previous residential address of the Asaduzzaman family in Ramna’s Eskaton Garden Road, documents show. 
Afroza is its chairman holding 10,000 shares (50%), while Asif Shahadat and Ayesha Siddika are directors holding 4,000 shares each. The company’s authorised capital is Tk 1 crore divided into 10 lakh shares of Tk 100 each. Together, they hold 18,000 (90%) of the 20,000 shares sold so far.
However, Afroza and Asif concealed their investments in the two other companies – Moumita Transport Limited and Gulshan Chaka – set up in September 2017 and April 2018. Their route permit was granted when Asaduzzaman was the head of the committee that approves the route permit.  
Afroza is chairman of Moumita Transport Limited, set up in September 2017, where she holds 4,000 shares. Other shareholders include Afroza’s brother Nur Alam (1,000 shares) and half-brother Harichur Rahman Sohan (1,500 shares). Md Kalu Shek, a transport leader from Gopalganj, is the managing director and has 2,000 shares, RJSC documents show. 
Before Sheikh Hasina’s fall, at least 140 buses operated between Savar and Narayanganj under Moumita’s banner. It is not clear how many of these buses are owned by the company shareholders and how many by third parties, a usual practice in Bangladesh’s transport sector.
In this route, each bus owned by third parties has to pay Tk 1000 to the transport line per day. Even if all these 140 buses are owned by third parties, Moumita earned around Tk 35 crore in commission in the last seven years since its inception. 
However, the calculations of the commissions are estimates by transport sector insiders, and The Daily Star cannot confirm that all 140 buses plied the road every day over the last six-seven years. 
Afroza is also chairman of Gulshan Chaka, holding 2,000 shares. Asif is a director having 1,000 shares.
At least 38 buses operate in the capital’s Gulshan area under Gulshan Chaka’s banner. Again, it’s not clear how many of these buses are owned by the transport company itself and how many are owned by other individuals or companies that use Gulshan Chaka’s banner. The profit sharing between bus owners and Gulshan Chaka is not clear.
For over a week before his arrest on Wednesday night on murder charges, The Daily Star tried to reach out to Asaduzzaman via phone, WhatsApp messages and email, but he did not respond. This newspaper also visited his house in Nikunja on September 10, but they were not home.
On September 3, this newspaper spoke to Asaduzzaman’s wife Afroza Zaman by phone when she said her husband was outside the country, but would not disclose where.
Asked about their assets, she said, “I don’t want to talk about this. My husband used to look after this.”
She then hung up the call and did not respond to our calls and WhatsApp messages afterwards. Asif Shahadat and Ayesha Siddika’s phone numbers were found switched off. 
Former inspector general of police Nur Mohammad said Asaduzzaman’s retirement benefit as an additional IGP was about Tk 1.5 crore.
“Frankly speaking, during service period, a government official can barely cover the family expenses with the salary. There’s no way they can acquire significant wealth from this income alone. Yet, it’s widely known that some officials invest in various sectors — like in the stock market or real estate — under their own name or someone else’s name,” he told The Daily Star.
“The question is how does a government employee accumulate massive wealth? The answer lies in bribery and corruption — whether through kickbacks, corruption in procurement, recruitment scams or promotion business,” he said, adding that legal actions must be taken against corrupt officials to send a message to other members of the force.