HC orders ACC to probe MP Golap’s houses in US

The High Court on Monday ordered the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the reports of Awami League (AL) lawmaker Abdus Sobhan Miah Golap’s nine houses in New York, US.

The HC bench comprising Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order after hearing on the writ petition filed on Sunday (February 26).

Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Saydul Haque Sumon filed the writ petition on Sunday seeking the HC directives over the matter. Chief Election Commission, chairmen of ACC and NBR, and home secretary have been made respondents in the petition.

According to the media report, Golap concealed information about being an American citizen and owning nine properties in New York City in his election affidavit in 2018, found an investigation by a global media agency.

Golap, who was given the post of central committee’s publicity and publication secretary in the AL’s national council last month, bought the properties between 2014 and 2019, according to a report by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global network of investigative journalists.

He bought the properties between 2014 and 2019. He first bought an apartment in 2014. Of the nine properties, which cost Golap about $4 million, eight were bought with upfront cash payments.

Abdus Sobhan Golap became a member of parliament in the 2018 national election.