Court orders ex-Jubo League leader Samrat to appear by Sunday

Published : Thursday, 23 October, 2025 at 2:15 PM Count : 605

A Dhaka court has ordered expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Chowdhury Samrat, a key figure in the 2019 casino scandal, to appear in person in a Tk 195-crore money laundering case.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Saifuzzaman issued the order on Thursday (October 23). The prosecution’s lawyer Muhammad Shamsuddoha Suman confirmed the development.

The court had scheduled the day for submission of the investigation report and the appearance of the accused. Samrat’s lawyer Afroza Shahnaz Parveen submitted attendance on his behalf under Section 205 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, the prosecution objected and filed a petition to cancel that representation.

During the hearing, the magistrate asked Samrat’s lawyer about his client’s whereabouts. When the lawyer replied that she did not know, the court directed that the matter would be heard again on Sunday in Samrat’s presence.

According to the case details, on September 13, 2020, CID Sub-Inspector Rashedur Rahman filed a case with Ramna Model Police Station under the Money Laundering Prevention Act. The complaint states that Samrat operated illegal businesses from an office named “M/S. His Movies” in Kakrail and accumulated large sums of money through unlawful activities in Motijheel, Fakirapool, Paltan and surrounding areas between December 2014 and August 2019.

He allegedly laundered around Tk 195 crore to Singapore and Malaysia through his associate Enamul Haque Arman. Case records show that between 2011 and 2019, Samrat travelled to Singapore 35 times, Malaysia three times, Dubai twice, and Hong Kong once, while Arman visited Singapore 23 times during that period.

Samrat and Arman were arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on October 6, 2019, in Cumilla’s Chauddagram. RAB later raided Samrat’s Kakrail office and recovered foreign liquor, a firearm and animal hides of rare species. A mobile court sentenced him to six months imprisonment for possession of wildlife hides. Subsequently, cases were filed under the Arms Act and the Narcotics Control Act.

Following investigations, chargesheets were filed in November and December 2020 in the arms and drug cases, which are now under trial. Additionally, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a separate case against Samrat over Tk 2.94 crore in alleged illegal assets, currently pending before the Special Judge Court-6 in Dhaka.