No scope to see money laundering issue lightly: SC observes

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that there is no scope to consider the money laundering issue lightly.

The five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain came up with the observation while cancelling the High Court order that granted bail to Joy Gopal Sarkar, general secretary of Dhaka Wanderers Club.

Earlier on August 19, the High Court bench comprising Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice SM Mozibur Rahman granted bail to Joy Gopal Sarkar in four money laundering cases.

Later, Khurshid Alam Khan, a lawyer of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) moved before the Appellate Division and finally the apex court cancelled the HC order.

Joy Gopal was arrested on July 14 last year in connection with five money laundering cases.

The cases were filed with different police stations including Wari and Sutrapur police stations on various dates between 2019 and 2020. He had also allegedly been linked with casino business

Additional Attorney General Sheikh Mohammad Morshed appeared for the state and senior lawyer Momtaz Uddin Fakir appeared on behalf of Joy Gopal Sarkar while Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the ACC during the court’s proceedings.