Bidisha Ershad sent to jail in fraud case

A Dhaka court has rejected the bail petition of Bidisha Ershad, former wife of late former president and Jatiya Party founder Hussain Muhammad Ershad, and ordered her to be sent to jail in a fraud case filed in 2008 with Gulshan Police Station.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Islam Junaid passed the order after a hearing today (26 August), State lawyer Syed Golam Murtuza Ibn Islam confirmed the matter.

Bidisha's lawyers, including Atikur Rahman, Moniruzzaman and Mahmudul Kabir, sought bail on conditions that she would appeal against her conviction. The prosecution opposed the plea.

After hearing both sides, the court rejected the bail petition and ordered that Bidisha be sent to jail.

In the bail petition, her lawyers claimed that Bidisha was innocent and had no involvement in the alleged offence. They also said she has a child with special needs who has no one else to look after them in her absence.

The lawyers said Bidisha would appeal against her conviction before a higher court and sought bail until the appeal is filed.

Police arrested Bidisha from Gulshan around 8:30pm yesterday (25 August) following an arrest warrant issued by the court.

On 20 May this year, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jamshed Alam sentenced Bidisha to two years in prison and fined her Tk10,000 in the fraud case. She was also sentenced to an additional month in prison in default of paying the fine.

Businessman AKM Mosharraf Hossain filed the case against Bidisha on 7 February 2008, accusing her of fraud.

According to the case documents, Mosharraf, an importer and trader of sanitary products in Mirpur-10, contacted Bidisha in 2001 to purchase a flat in Baridhara.

They later agreed to purchase a flat at President Park in Baridhara for Tk80 lakh.

On 10 July 2001, Bidisha allegedly asked Mosharraf to issue a Tk75 lakh pay order in the name of her nominated person and friend, Abdul Razzaq, at her Rajanigandha office in Banani.

Mosharraf paid the amount through Standard Chartered Bank's Kawran Bazar branch, following which an agreement for the sale of the flat was executed.

Under the agreement, the flat was to be registered after obtaining approval from the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha and paying the remaining amount.

Bidisha also allegedly promised to hand over the flat by 10 July 2002.

However, the flat was not handed over within the agreed timeframe. When Mosharraf pressed her to hand over the property, Bidisha allegedly assured him that she would return the money.

On 9 February 2005, she issued him a Tk72 lakh cheque, according to the case documents. The cheque was later dishonoured due to insufficient funds in the account.

The complainant alleged that Bidisha subsequently delayed the matter on various pretexts and neither returned the money nor handed over the flat.

He also alleged that he was threatened with death by hired criminals when he demanded the money or the flat.

According to the case, Bidisha told Mosharraf that he would have to wait until she recovered money from former president Ershad.