Khaleda's Son Koko's Criminal Case on FBI Website

Source: http://www.fbi.gov/washingtondc/press-releases/2009/wfo010909.htm

Department of Justice Seeks to Recover Approximately $3 Million in Illegal Proceeds from Foreign Bribe Payments

U.S. Department of Justice January 09, 2009

Office of Public Affairs (202) 514-2007/ (202) 514-1888

WASHINGTON—The Department of Justice has filed a forfeiture action against accounts worth nearly $3 million that are alleged to be the proceeds of a wide-ranging conspiracy to bribe public officials in Bangladesh and their family members in connection with various public work projects, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division announced today.

The forfeiture action was filed Jan. 8, 2009 , in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia against funds located in Singapore held by multiple account holders. The forfeiture complaint relates primarily to alleged bribes paid to Arafat "Koko" Rahman, the son of the former prime minister of Bangladesh, in connection with public works projects awarded by the government of Bangladesh to Siemens AG and China Harbor Engineering Company. According to the forfeiture complaint, the majority of funds in Koko’s account are traceable to bribes allegedly received in connection with the China Harbor project, which was a project to build a new mooring containment terminal at the port in Chittagong , Bangladesh .

"This action shows the lengths to which U.S. law enforcement will go to recover the proceeds of foreign corruption, including acts of bribery and money laundering," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich. "Not only will the Department, for example, prosecute companies and executives who violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, we will also use our forfeiture laws to recapture the illicit facilitating payments often used in such schemes."

Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (Siemens AG), a German corporation, and three of its subsidiaries pleaded guilty on Dec. 15, 2008 , to violations of and charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Specifically, Siemens Bangladesh admitted that from May 2001 to August 2006, it caused corrupt payments of at least $5,319,839 to be made through purported business consultants to various Bangladeshi officials in exchange for favorable treatment during the bidding process on a mobile telephone project. At least one payment to each of these purported consultants was paid from a U.S. bank account.

According to the forfeiture complaint, the bribe payments from Siemens AG and China Harbor Engineering Company were made in U.S. dollars, and the illicit funds flowed through financial institutions in the United States before they were deposited in accounts in Singapore , thereby subjecting them to U.S. jurisdiction. Money laundering laws in the United States cover financial transactions that flow through the United States involving proceeds of foreign offenses, including foreign bribery and extortion.

In August 2006, the President announced a National Strategy to Internationalize Efforts Against Kleptocracy to fight high-level corruption around the world. This strategy combines the policy and law enforcement tools of several federal agencies, including the Departments of Justice, Treasury, State and Homeland Security.

The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Chief Linda Samuel and Trial Attorney Frederick Reynolds of the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section. Additional assistance was provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office in cooperation with Bangladeshi law enforcement.

Source: http://www.fbi.gov/washingtondc/press-releases/2009/wfo010909.htm

$3 Million Money Laundering by BNP Chair Khaleda Zia's Son Koko

কোকোর পাচার করা ৩০ লাখ ডলার ফিরিয়ে আনার প্রক্রিয়ায় অগ্রগতি

 

কিসমত খোন্দকার
সাবেক প্রধানমন্ত্রী ও বিএনপি চেয়ারপারসন খালেদা জিয়ার ছোট ছেলে আরাফাত রহমান কোকোর পাচার করা অর্থ দেশে ফেরত আনার প্রক্রিয়ায় অগ্রগতি হয়েছে। সিঙ্গাপুরে রক্ষিত কোকোর পাচার করা ২০ লাখ ডলারের ওপর বাংলাদেশের দাবি সেদেশের হাইকোর্ট চূড়ান্তভাবে গ্রহণ করেছেন। ওই অর্থ বাংলাদেশে ফেরত পাঠানোর বিষয়টি এখন আদালতে প্রক্রিয়াধীন। অন্যদিকে কোকোর আরেকটি কোম্পানির ১০ লাখ ডলার ফেরত দেওয়ার জন্য বাংলাদেশের দাবি সিঙ্গাপুরের হাইকোর্টে বিবেচনাধীন রয়েছে। অর্থ মন্ত্রণালয় সূত্রে এ খবর জানা গেছে।

সম্প্রতি অর্থ মন্ত্রণালয়ে মানি লন্ডারিং প্রতিরোধ সংক্রান্ত জাতীয় সমন্বয় কমিটির বৈঠকে কোকো, তারেক রহমান ও তারেকের বন্ধু গিয়াসউদ্দিন মামুনের পাচার করা অর্থ ফেরত আনার অগ্রগতি নিয়ে আলোচনা হয়েছে। জাতীয় সমন্বয় কমিটির এক সদস্য সমকালকে জানান, পাচার করা অর্থ ফেরত আনার ক্ষেত্রে বেশ কিছু আইনি জটিলতা রয়েছে। এ বিষয়ে অ্যাটর্নি জেনারেলের দফতর কাজ করছে। তিনি বলেন, পাচারকৃত অর্থ ফেরত আনা বা ফেরত দেওয়ার ক্ষেত্রে যে দেশ থেকে অর্থ পাচার হয়েছে এবং যে দেশে পাচার হয়েছে এই দু'দেশের মধ্যে তা করার নিয়ম রয়েছে। কিন্তু সিঙ্গাপুর আদালত পুরো অর্থই বাংলাদেশে ফেরত দেওয়ার কথা বলেছেন। তবে এ অর্থ দুর্নীতি দমন সংক্রান্ত কাজে ব্যবহারের শর্ত থাকবে।

অর্থ মন্ত্রণালয়ের সংশ্লিষ্ট কর্মকর্তারা জানান, তারেক ও মামুনের সিঙ্গাপুরে পাচার করা ২১ কোটি টাকার সমপরিমাণ অর্থের বিষয়টি বাংলাদেশের আদালতে বিচারাধীন রয়েছে। সাক্ষ্য শেষ হলে অর্থ পাচার আইনে তাদের সাজা ও অর্থ বাজেয়াপ্ত হতে পারে। এ ছাড়া গিয়াসউদ্দিন আল মামুনের যুক্তরাজ্যে পাচার করা ৬ কোটি টাকার বিষয়েও একটি মামলা বিচারাধীন রয়েছে।

Source: http://samakal.com.bd/details.php?news=14&action=main&view=archiev&y=2012&m=06&d=25&option=single&news_id=271335&pub_no=1094

Khaleda Zia's Son Koko in Singapore's Newspaper

Source: http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BNew%2BPaper/Story/A1Story20110104-256366.html

He was 'excited' to have VIP's son as client

Man held former Bangladesh PM's son's illegal funds in his bank account. -TNP
Thu, Jan 06, 2011
The New Paper
By Amanda Yong and Chong Shin Yen

THE man was an important person, the son of a foreign government leader.

Lim Siew Cheng, 63, the managing director of a corporate secretarial services company, was enamoured of Mr Arafat Rahman, the youngest son of then Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia.

So when the latter asked him to transfer about $3.17 million to two bank accounts here, he agreed.
But the money was tainted.

Lim ended up being dragged into a multi-national corruption probe and was even quizzed by investigators from the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Yesterday, Lim pleaded guilty in a court here to two counts of failing to inform the authorities that the money Mr Arafat asked him to transfer and hold in his own name in another bank account were the proceeds of criminal conduct.

He was fined $12,000.

Lim's offence falls under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, which was expanded to include non-drug related offences in 1999.

Changes to the Act made it mandatory for all persons - including non-financial institutions and persons - to report any suspicious transactions to the authorities.

Lim is only the second person prosecuted for such an offence so far.

The court heard that in April 2004, Lim was introduced to Mr Arafat by one of his Bangladeshi clients, a Captain Sohail of QC Shipping, which is based here.

Mr Arafat told him that he wanted to set up a company here to invest in properties and in the shipping business.

The court heard that for his secretarial services, including acting as a nominee director and shareholder for the company, known as Zasz Trading and Consulting, Lim received $100 every month.

Lim and Mr Arafat also opened a United Overseas Bank (UOB) account under Zasz with both of them as the authorised signatories.

Second company

In November 2005, Lim incorporated another company, Fairhill Consulting, for Mr Arafat. This time, Lim was the sole signatory of the UOB account.

Several transactions took place in both accounts over the next few years, but these were all done by Mr Arafat and he told Lim about the nature of the transactions only from time to time after the event, said Lim's lawyer, Mr Nakoorsha Kadir.

Then, suddenly on Feb 16, 2007, Mr Arafat called him and gave instructions to close both companies immediately due to political problems in Bangladesh.

He told Lim to transfer the remaining funds in the bank accounts to an account under Lim's name for the time being.

Less than a week later, Lim moved US$900,677.34 (S$1.16 million) from the Fairhill account and $2.013 million from the Zasz account to a bank account under his own name.

Four months later, Lim read in newspaper reports that Mr Arafat had been arrested in Bangladesh.
Lim got a call from a Mr Ferdous Khan, a chartered accountant, in November 2007.

He claimed he was conducting an investigation for the interim military government in Bangladesh and that he had traced a payment of US$180,000 to the Zasz bank account.

Lim also got a phone call from someone claiming to be a Bangladeshi embassy official, and a fax from a Bangladeshi government agency about the matter.

It was only then that he started to feel troubled about the situation. But he still thought that Mr Khan might be a fraud and that opportunists or political rivals of Mr Arafat's family could be trying to trick him into releasing the money.

On the advice of his lawyers, he went to the Commercial Affairs Department on Nov 7, 2007.

About eight months later, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) seized the relevant documents and files and interviewed Lim and his secretary.

In September 2008, through CPIB, Lim provided a confidential statement to the Bangladeshi authorities for their investigations.

When Mr Arafat finally called Lim once in December 2008 and again in January 2009, Lim said he was still awaiting his written instructions and that he had told the authorities about the funds.

On Jan 14, 2009, he agreed to speak to officers from the US Department of Justice and the FBI at the CPIB office.

He said he was still unclear about what exactly was going on, even at that stage.

The court was told that the money in Lim's bank account, which he later transferred to UOB accounts opened under the respective companies' names, was seized by the police.

In Lim's mitigation, Mr Nakoorsha said his client had been "naturally quite excited to have a VIP such as the son of a Prime Minister as a client".

Ms Zia was premier from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006.

According to previous news reports, a Dhaka court ruled in 2009 that she and her elder son, Mr Tareq Rahman, should go on trial after they were charged with embezzling more than US$300,000 meant for an orphanage.

They denied any wrongdoing and said the charges were politically motivated.

Mr Arafat also faces corruption charges and is accused of laundering more than US$2.7 million through bank accounts in Singapore.

For failing to disclose the suspicious transactions, Lim could have been fined $10,000 on each charge.

Khaleda Zia's Son Koko in World Bank's Asset Recovery Handbook

World Bank Asset Recovery Handbook
(https://star.worldbank.org/star/sites/star/files/asset_recovery_handbook_0.pdf)
Page 179
BOX 9.1 Establishing Jurisdiction Where Limited Acts Have Occurred
in the Territory

It may appear to be difficult to establish jurisdiction in cases that do not involve
nationals and where only some of the elements of the offense are committed
in or against a particular jurisdiction. However, many jurisdictions have found
innovative ways to accomplish this. Here are some factors on which they have
focused:

• Financial transactions in the territory. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld
convictions of defendants who used interstate wires to execute a scheme
to defraud a foreign government of tax revenue.

• Origin of activities. In Brazil, a telephone call, fax, or e-mail emanating
from Brazil would be sufficient to establish jurisdiction over an act of foreign
bribery.

• Links to other crimes committed in the territory. In France, jurisdiction
can be established over crimes committed in a foreign jurisdiction if those
crimes can be linked to crimes committed in France.

• Transfers of national currency (even if outside the territory). In 2009,
the U.S. Department of Justice filed a confiscation action against bribery
proceeds paid (in Singapore, with U.S. currency) by a foreign company to
the son of the former prime minister of Bangladesh. The Department of
Justice successfully argued that the transfer of U.S. currency between
fi nancial institutions outside the United States necessarily transited through
U.S. correspondent banks. Also supporting the establishment of jurisdiction
was the fact that the foreign company making the bribe was registered
on the New York Stock Exchange and subject to U.S. laws and regulations.

Khaleda Zia's Son Koko in Another Singapore's Newspaper

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_620122.html
Fined for not reporting $3 million in transfers
By Khushwant Singh

THE managing director of a company providing corporate secretarial services, failed to inform authorities in 2007 that he had been instructed by Mr Arafat Rahman Koko - the son of former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia - to transfer and hold some $3,171,000 in his personal bank account.

The court was told that with his experience, Lim Siew Cheng, 63, should have suspected the money could be the proceeds of criminal conduct and should have reported it to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau or the police.

He did neither and on Monday he pleaded guilty and was fined $6,000 each for the two offences under laws to prevent money-laundering.

According to investigations, he got to know Mr Rahman, who wished to set up a company here, through a mutual acquaintance and in April 2004, Zasz Trading & Consulting was incorporated. Together with Mr Rahman, he was also an authorised signatory for Zasz bank account with United Oversea Bank (UOB).

A year later, he set up a second company for Mr Rahman, known as Fairhill Consulting, with Lim as the sole authorised signatory of its UOB account. On Feb 16, 2007, Mr Rahman called Lim to close down the two companies immediately because of political problems in Bangladesh. Lim was also instructed to transfer US$900,677 (S$1.2 million) in the Fairhill account and the S$2,013,467 in the Zasz account into his own bank account.

Madam Khaleda was prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006. Her youngest son Rahman is now facing corruption charges in Bangladesh and is accused of laundering more than US$2.7 million through bank accounts in Singapore.

Khaleda Zia's Son Koko in USA Lawsuit

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION vs SIEMENS LAWSUIT
Case: 1 :08-cv-02167
Assign. Date : 1211212008
(Source: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2008/comp20829.pdf)
Page No. 19
5. Mobile Telephone Services in Bangladesh

47. Between 2004 and 2006, Siemens COM paid approximately $5.3 million in bribes to government officials in Bangladesh in connection with a contract with the Bangladesh Telegraph & Telephone Board (BTTB) to install mobile telephone services. The. total value of the contract was approximately $40.9 million. The payments were made to three business consultants pursuant to sham agreements calling for services associated with the mobile telephone project. The ultimate recipients of the payments included the son of the then-Prime Minister in Bangladesh, the Minister of the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunicationsin Bangladesh, and the BTTB Director of Procurement. In addition, Siemens Limited Bangladesh, a regional company, hired relatives. of two other BTTB and Ministry of Post and Telecom officials. Most of the money paid to the business consultants was routed through correspondent accounts in the United States, with at least one payment originating from a U.S. account. Since approximately September 2004, a Siemens business consultant who served as a principal payment intermediary on the Bangladesh bribe payments has been resident in the United States. At least $1.7 million of the bribe payments made through this intermediary were paid into a Hong Kong bank account while the intermediary was residing in the United States.

48. The involvement of senior officials at Siemens regional company in Bangladesh, including a former CEO and the director of the regional company's COM division, in the bribery scheme is revealed both in statements by the officials and in internal email messages, several of which include the tagline, "kindly delete this mail once the purpose is done."