Former education minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury Nowfel received at least Tk 3 crore from a tobacco company, known for years for illegal cigarette production and marketing including some counterfeit foreign brands.
He also co-owns a piece of land on which the cigarette company, Bijoy International Tobacco, used to operate, documents show.
The Daily Star has copies of the Tk 3 crore cheque and the land-ownership document.
The findings come six months after an investigation by The Daily Star established initial links between Nowfel and illegal tobacco production. The story titled “A councillor and his illicit tobacco trade” on June 1 this year did not mention Nowfel’s name, because he sold his share of that company in 2020.
Only five months after we ran the story, he received a check worth Tk 3 crore in favour of his family-run Premier University based in Chattogram, Nowfel’s hometown.
Before we published the story on June 1 this year, Nowfel at a meeting with The Daily Star insisted that he sold his share in the illegal tobacco company and that he did not receive any financial benefits from the company.
But NBR’s Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) has now found that there are 20 companies that make counterfeit cigarettes in Bangladesh and Nowfel along with Abdus Sabur Liton, a former councillor of Chattogram City Corporation, used to control the market.
The report says Nowfel invested in Liton’s tobacco business, and parts of the returns were deposited to the accounts of Premier University.
Nowfel is the chairman of the university’s trustee board. His mother Hasina Mohiuddin and younger brother Borhanul Hasan Chowdhury are members of the board.
The former minister could not be reached for comments. He is thought to have fled the country.
Liton owns licenced tobacco businesses, but the cigarettes his firms produce are knock-off versions of widely sold brands, including some foreign brands such as Esse and Oris, investigations by both The Daily Star and NBR found.
Mohammad Fakhrul Alam, head of the NBR investigation, submitted a 111-page report on his findings late last month.
Of the 20 firms making counterfeit cigarettes, Bijoy International Tobacco and Tara International Tobacco are by far the biggest, says the report submitted to NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan.
The firms — both owned by Tara Group — import raw materials by lying on documents and produce counterfeit cigarettes in their factories in Kishoreganj and Chakaria Upazila of Chattogram, says the report.
This newspaper previously found that counterfeit cigarettes made by these companies were sold in different parts of the country.
Liton and his brother Abdul Mannan Khokon are owners of Tara Group.
Although the company’s sales were reported in audit reports at Tk 48.48 crore from July 2020 to June 2024, the CIC found evidence suggesting that the amount is 802.17 crore. This was done to evade taxes.
The investigators analysed nine bank accounts of the group.
Mohammad Fakhrul Alam, convener of the probe committee, said, “A few individuals control the market. They make fraudulent documents about shell companies to conceal their activities.
“We looked at bank transactions of all these [20] companies and discovered that the Tara Group was linked to at least 10 of them. The former education minister, a councillor, and his brother are involved in illegal cigarette distribution.”
He added that Bijoy International Tobacco’s factory in Chakaria was built on land owned by the three of them.
“We have found evidence of illegal cigarette production and marketing. We saw suspicious transactions at Tara Group’s bank accounts. The former education minister used Premier University’s bank accounts to receive his cuts.
“We recommend filing criminal and departmental cases against several individuals and organisations.”
Premier University’s account with United Commercial Bank’s Chattogram Medical College Branch received Tk 3 crore from an account of Tara Group with the same bank’s Jubilee Road Branch on October 1 last year.
The CIC on October 23 this year wrote to the university’s registrar seeking information about this transaction.
Four days later, Registrar Iftekhar Monir replied, “University Trustee Board Chairman Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury withdrew Tk 3 crore in cash for development work of the university. However, he deposited the same amount of money from an account of Tara Group to the university’s account as the work was not completed.”
Monir also mentioned that Tara Group and the Premier University are not related.
When contacted, Monir said, “We have no additional comments other than what we have written [to the NBR].”
Liton and Nowfel had gone into hiding after the Awami League government fell amid a mass uprising on August 5.
Several officials of Tara Group, requesting anonymity, said Liton was in Dubai and Nowfel in India.
Liton told The Daily Star on WhatsApp in November this year that Nowfel owned 40 percent shares of Bijoy Tobacco in early 2018.
“He sold his shares to me and my brother around 2020. Since then, there has been no further transaction with him. All of this is a conspiracy against me.”
When asked about the ownership of the land and transactions in the Premier University’s bank account, he said, “If you have documents, why are you asking me?”
