Bangladesh MP’s partner admits to paying bribe to flee Kuwait

CCTV cameras at boarding gate were intentionally turned off by one of his associates

Kuwait City: During an investigation by the Bangladesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Amir Hossain, alias Siraj Uddin, admitted he fled Kuwait with the assistance of Kuwait’s immigration department in exchange for a huge bribe, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

The CID also found that Hossain, who is said to be a close associate of Mohammed Shahid Islam, revealed that the CCTV cameras at the boarding gate were intentionally turned off by one of his associates.

Hossain was arrested in Bangladesh in August after Kuwait’s criminal investigation authority notified Bangladesh that Hossain was Islam’s partner and had assisted in running a large human trafficking scheme.

Hossain is said to have fled to Bangladesh in May, along with two other Bangladeshis, before they were awarded their jail sentence. All three were arrested in Kuwait for allegedly being involved in Islam’s human trafficking ring. Although Kuwaiti police seized their passports and placed a travel ban on them, the three Bangladeshi men were able to leave Kuwait and travel to their country.

Currently, the CID is investigating how Hossain was able to escape Kuwait and enter Bangladesh without coming to the notice of the Bangladeshi immigration department.

Who is Amir Hossain?

Amir Hossain, otherwise known by his alia Siraj Uddin, traveled to Kuwait in 1998 for work with a forged passport, a local government public representative from Madhabi told the Dhaka Tribune. It is unclear when, but Hossain later become involved with Islam and trafficked hundreds of Bangladeshis into Kuwait.

Then on September 2, a Bangladeshi national, Raihan Pradhan, filed a case against Hossain at a police station in Bangladesh. Pradhan said that his cousin went to Kuwait and paid around 2,500 Kuwaiti dinars for a visa and had not been awarded any job. In addition, Pradhan alleged that his cousin was living in inhumane conditions, along with hundreds of others, in Kuwait.

As part of an investigation into Hossain, Bangladeshi police revealed that he owns a six-story apartment building in Dhaka, a three-story building in Madhabdi, a textile mill and various other investments.

Mohammed Shahid Islam

Back in June 8, Islam was arrested on charges of human trafficking, money laundering and bribery, according to local Kuwaiti media. In terms of human trafficking, Islam is being accused of bringing in thousands of Bangladeshis into Kuwait in exchange for money, usually ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 Kuwaiti dinars, Al Qabas reported.

Islam is the managing director and CEO of Marafie Kuwaitia Group, a security and labour contracting company. In addition, Islam has three other companies in Kuwait, all of which are cleaning and contracting companies.

The Bangladeshi MP had an annual net profit of around two million Kuwaiti dinars after all the bribes and money he spent on gifts in exchange for facilitating transactions and paperwork to bring in workers from Bangladesh.

One such Kuwaiti official is Major General Mazen Al Jarrah, the Assistant Under-Secretary of Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior, Al Qabas reported. Al Jarrah was detained on July 10 and is charged with accepting bribes from Islam.

Back in August, it was revealed that Islam possessed a commercial licence that allowed him to trade in everything, from children’s toys to antiques, carpets and gold. By entering the gold and carpet business, Islam was able to continue his illegal permit trading scheme without raising suspicion because of the high value earned from his other business dealings, a source told Al Qabas.