“Goat scandal”: village relatives shocked by the revelation of Matiur’s wealth

Those close to former National Board of Revenue (NBR) official Matiur Rahman, now accused of corruption, find it hard to believe he amassed such wealth, as reported by the Anti-Corruption Commission and the media in recent days.

Matiur came into the limelight when his second wife’s son tried to buy a goat for a staggering Tk 15 lakh.

But this was just a drop in the ocean for Matiur’s hidden wealth, leaving its villagers in shock.

The former tax official allegedly used his position as chairman of the NBR Customs, Excise and VAT Appeal Tribunal to acquire financial and real estate assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The ACC is currently investigating these allegations of corruption.

After visiting Matiur’s ancestral home in Bahadurpur village of Kazirchar Union in Barishal’s Muladi Upazila, the Business Standard on Tuesday (June 25) found out that he was known locally as Pintu, son of Abdul Hakim, who was a BNP politician and served as Kazirchar president. Union Parishad.

According to locals, Matiur last visited his village in 2019. His elder and younger brothers are also rarely seen in the village, leaving their cousins ​​to manage the family estate. The villagers find it hard to believe the extent of Matiur’s assets.

“Everything that is said about his brother is a conspiracy. He does not have that much wealth. His wealth was built through his own hard work,” Mahmudunnabi, Matiur’s cousin, told TBS.

“Matiur raised goats and saved the money he sold since he was in school.”

According to Mahmudunnabi, the eldest of three brothers and two sisters, Matiur struggled financially early in his life. He studied with his aunt in Babuganj.

Asserting that the allegations are baseless, Fakhruddin, another cousin of Matiur, said: “If he had that much money, we would at least have an idea. A neutral investigation would prove our brother’s innocence.”

Fakhruddin, however, also admitted that after taking over as revenue officer, Matiur built several acres of land and houses in the area and opened a bag manufacturing factory for his brother in Dhaka.

According to sources, Matiur’s village house is built on around 1.5 acres of land. He also owns 20 to 50 acres of farmland.

In addition to his village property, on June 4, the ACC investigation revealed properties in Purbail in Dhaka, including 55 bighas of land, a park, another 300 bighas of land, a shoe factory and cars luxury item bearing the name of him or his loved ones.

Sources said Matiur’s brother Kaiyum Howladar is a BNP politician. Matiur himself opened a travel bag manufacturing factory in Tongi, Dhaka, soon after taking over as revenue officer. He also owns other businesses in the area.

Matiur Rahman was removed from his post as chairman of the National Revenue Authority’s Customs, Excise and VAT Appeal Tribunal after the corruption investigation began.

On June 24, a Dhaka court issued a travel ban against Matiur Rahman, his first wife, and their child. The same day, the Finance Ministry wrote to Sonali Bank and Bangladesh Bank to remove Matiur from the post of director of the state-owned bank.

On June 25, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) ordered the seizure of the bank accounts of Matiur, his two wives and children, as well as their affiliated institutions, within 30 days.

On the same day, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) ordered the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited to attach the beneficial owner account (BO account) of Matiur and his family members.

Matiur’s son from his second wife, Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat, posted a photo of a sacrificial goat on social media and claimed to have bought it for Tk 12 lakh.

This raised questions about the income of Matiur, who was a grade 1 officer with a basic monthly salary of Tk 78,000.