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Tabith Awal hides Singapore wealth from EC


Published : 20 Jan 2020 02:54 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 11:21 AM

Tabith Awal, BNP’s mayoral candidate for Dhaka North City Corporation elections, is again on the spot for not disclosing his Singapore-based wealth info to the Election Commission (EC).
Son of a top BNP leader and business tycoon Abdul Awal Mintoo, Tabith is grappling to address the key question of why he did not mention his Panama Paper’s issue to the EC. In a new revelation, it is found that he did not even disclose his Singapore-based businesses in the affidavit submitted to the EC.
According to the rules, it is mandatory to disclose to the EC all wealth info inside and outside the country of a candidate through affidavit. Failure to do that can lead to cancellation of the candidature.
Bangladesh Post which recently ran a report on Tabith’s Panama Paper’s link received some documents that showed him as one of the three owner-directors of NFM Energy (Singapore) PTE LTD.
The company has millions of dollars of assets and liabilities. The two other owners are his brothers. But Tabith did not include its name in his disclosure to the EC, which is the violation of Bangladeshi electoral laws and regulations.
NFM Energy (Singapore) PTE LTD, which was incorporated in Singapore in 2008, has a total of 1000 shares, with Tabith owning 340 shares while his two brothers Tafsir Awal and Tajwar Awal own 330 shares each.
Netra News, editorial office of which is located in the Swedish city of Malmö, first raised the issue showing that Tabith is an owner-director of NFM Energy (Singapore) PTE LTD.
The Awal brothers are listed in the business registry documents as US citizens. There is a fourth non-shareholder director, who is a Singapore national.
According to the documents obtained from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) of Singapore, NFM Energy (Singapore) PTE LTD is involved in ‘trading in primary products and processed food’ and ‘investment in various energy related companies’.
The latest financial statement of the company shows that it has total assets of $2,143,267 and liabilities of $2,627,194.
Netra News claims it has seen evidence that the company holds a significant stake in Bangladesh Petrochemical Company Limited (BPCL), and Tajwar Awal represents NFM Energy (Singapore) as a director in the BPCL board.
BPCL is not included in the list of 37 companies that Tabith Awal disclosed to the EC as his business interests.
Netra News also claims it has found a defunct company in the Panamanian business registry that lists Tabith Awal as the treasurer and director.
The company, Multimode International SA, had Tabith’s father Abdul Awal Mintoo as the president and Tafsir Awal as one of the directors.
The Awal family’s name previously came up in relation to a Bermuda-based company, NFM Energy Limited, which was part of the “Paradise Papers” leak published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It is also known as ‘Panama Papers’ leak.
Tabith said his lawyers prepared the disclosure affidavit based on applicable laws and regulations. “It was all created by my lawyers. [They] must have done it after looking at laws and requirements,” he told Netra News.
He also confirmed that NFM Energy (Singapore) PTE. LTD. has a stake in Bangladesh Petrochemical Company Limited (BPCL).
He said he only has a controlling interest in NFM Energy (Singapore) PTE LTD.
Tabith, however, appeared surprised when he was asked about the defunct Panama-based company Multimode International SA.
“I have no idea about that! Is my name there?” he told journalists.
Members of the civil society organisations earlier urged the EC to look into the Panama Papers’ issue of Tabith.
“The Election Commission could ask him the question (about Panama Papers) since he did not mention it in affidavit,” Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), earlier told Bangladesh Post.
“Names in Panama Papers do not mean that they are corrupt. But it calls for investigation. The Bangladesh Bank and the Anti-Corruption Commission should investigate that. But the Election Commission can ask him (Tabith) why you did not mention anything about Panama Papers What is your explanation If he cannot give any satisfactory answer, then his nomination paper can be cancelled,” the chief of the anti-graft watchdog earlier said.
The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial information for more than 214,488 offshore entities.
The documents contain personal financial information about wealthy individuals and public officials that had previously been kept private.
Reporters found that some of the corporations were used for illegal purposes, including fraud, tax evasion, and evading international sanctions, while offshore business entities are legal.