Tk678.19cr money laundering case: Diamond World MD placed on 1-day remand
Police had sought a three-day remand to question him over allegations that his company traded gold and diamonds worth Tk678.19 crore without valid source documents.
A Dhaka court today (20 October) placed Dilip Kumar Agarwala, managing director of Diamond World, on a one-day remand in a money-laundering case involving allegations that he laundered around Tk678.19 crore through the illegal smuggling of gold and diamonds.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam passed the order after a hearing, state counsel Shamsuddoha Suman confirmed.
Earlier, the case's investigating officer, CID Sub-Inspector Ashraful Hasan, produced Dilip in court and sought a three-day remand.
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The remand application said the case was under investigation and that the accused needed to be questioned closely so investigators could collect and review data and verify the alleged money laundering.
Defence lawyers opposed the remand, while the state argued in favour of it.
During the hearing, state counsel Shamsuddoha Suman said the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had no information about who had sold the gold and diamonds to Dilip, and that he had been unable to provide such information.
He alleged that Dilip had laundered money through smuggling and had given various sums of money to Sheikh Hasina, whom he described as "fascist", becoming her associate in suppressing the 2024 July Uprising.
The defence lawyers said Dilip had submitted all relevant documents and year-wise accounts, including records showing who had paid how much.
They argued that Dilip could assist the investigation from jail and that the remand application contradicted the allegations in the case.
Citing his illness and age, as well as Bijoya Dashami falling the following day, they also sought bail.
After hearing both sides, the court granted a one-day remand.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch (DB) arrested Dilip at a house in the capital's Banani yesterday.
According to the case statement, the alleged offences took place at various times between 6 September 2006, and 8 February 2024, at Diamond World's showroom and office on Gulshan Avenue.
Bank accounts, relevant documents and interrogations conducted during the CID inquiry showed that Diamond World had legally imported gold bars, gold ornaments, loose diamonds and jewellery worth Tk38.47 crore from abroad through letters of credit, according to the case statement.
However, the inquiry also found that, over the same period, the company had bought, exchanged or converted gold and diamonds worth more than Tk678.19 crore in the local market, the statement said.
It added that the company had failed to provide the CID investigating officer with valid documents identifying the sellers or sources of the gold and diamonds worth Tk678.19 crore allegedly purchased in the local market.
The CID's preliminary inquiry found that Dilip had used Diamond World and Diamond World Limited to buy and sell illegally smuggled gold and diamonds over an extended period, earning Tk678.19 crore, according to the case statement.
Asaduzzaman Sheikh, a police inspector (unarmed) at the CID's Financial Crime Unit, filed the case with Gulshan Police Station on 17 November 2025.
Following the fall of the Awami League regime in 2024, the then Rapid Action Battalion arrested Dilip on 3 September that year on charges of gold and diamond smuggling, fraud, forgery and money laundering.
RAB took him into custody around midnight after a lengthy operation surrounding Diamond World's office in Gulshan.
He was later shown arrested in a case filed over the killing of teenager Hridoy Ahmed in the capital's Badda during the 2024 July Uprising.
Dilip was subsequently released on bail.
