The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has conducted a raid to investigate allegations of a Tk 40 crore municipal tax evasion involving the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC). The evasion was allegedly carried out by altering field-book records, specifically by erasing the digit '2' from tax documents to reduce the assessed amounts.
An ACC team raided the CCC office in Tigerpass on Thursday afternoon. Officials reviewed documents and questioned CCC staff, stating they had initially found evidence supporting the allegations.
In response, the CCC has suspended two accused tax officials and relieved three others of their duties. CCC Mayor Dr. Shahadat Hossain issued four separate orders last Wednesday to implement these actions.
The suspended officials are Revenue Department Tax Officer Nurul Alam and Excise Officer Joy Prakash Sen. Additionally, Revenue Department accounting assistants Manjur Morshed, Ruposhi Rani Dey, and Ahsan Ullah have been relieved of their duties.
According to sources, the irregularities occurred during the annual municipal tax assessment for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. In one case, the tax for Ishaq Brothers was presented to the Appeal Review Board as Tk 6 crore, down from the original Tk 26 crore. Similarly, the tax for the Incontrand Depot was reduced from Tk 25 crore 67 lakh to Tk 5 crore 67 lakh. In both instances, the digit '2' was erased from the crores place, resulting in a total alleged evasion of approximately Tk 40 crore.
ACC Assistant Director Sayed Alam told journalists, "Our initial investigation confirms that the documents were altered. The owners of the institutions, being the beneficiaries, are also complicit. We will consult signature experts and investigate bank accounts in the detailed phase."
CCC Secretary Mohammad Ashraful Amin stated, "Irregularities were found in the tax assessments of two container depots from the 2017-18 period, where Tk 26 crore and Tk 25 crore were shown as Tk 6 crore and Tk 5 crore, respectively. One Tax Officer and two Deputy Tax Officers were directly responsible, and the accounting assistants were aware of the matter."
He added that the CCC has suspended two employees and issued show-cause notices to the accounting assistants, giving them ten days to respond. One official involved has since retired, and the CCC has permanently suspended his post-retirement benefits. The suspended officials will receive a food allowance as per regulations during their suspension.
"We will cooperate with any other government agency investigating this," Amin said. "An internal committee was formed in 2023, and the mayor took action as soon as its report was received. We are now taking initiatives to recoup the full Tk 26 crore and Tk 25 crore from the two institutions by overturning the previous decision of the Review Board."
