Ex-Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia’s bank accounts to be unfrozen after 17 years

Dhaka: Tax authorities in Bangladesh have decided to unfreeze the bank accounts of Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia, 17 years after they were blocked.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Monday instructed banks to unfreeze the accounts of BNP Chairperson Zia, the Daily Star newspaper reported.

In August 2007, the NBR's Central Intelligence Cell directed banks to freeze the accounts of the BNP Chairperson, who has been elected Bangladesh's prime minister twice since 1990.

The decision was based on a recommendation of a panel formed during the then Army-backed caretaker government, said a senior official of the NBR.

Since then, her accounts have remained blocked. The BNP has on several occasions demanded that they be unfrozen.

Later, she was allowed to withdraw a certain amount of money every month from Rupali Bank’s Shaheed Moinul Road branch of Dhaka Cantonment for running regular expenses.

The then caretaker government also blocked Sheikh Hasina's bank accounts but they were unfreezed after she became prime minister.

The latest move comes after a mass uprising toppled Hasina, a long-time rival of Khaleda, on August 5, ending the Bangladesh Awami League's 15-year rule. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on August 8.

Zia, 79, was released from jail after Hasina, 76, fled to India on August 5.

Zia served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006.

The NBR said they received an application from Khaleda's lawyer on Sunday seeking to unfreeze the accounts.

"As there are no tax-related issues pending investigation relating to her, we have advised banks to unlock all her accounts. We have asked them to take immediate action and provide a compliance report," the official was quoted as saying.