Al Jazeera’s Investigation into Bangladesh

Introduction

Al Jazeera’s investigation team have uncovered a secret at the heart of the Government of Bangladesh. They have uncovered the Ahmed Clan, a crime family at the centre of power. The clan includes 3 convicted killers, at least 1 who was a personal bodyguard to the current Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. The investigation reveals how the current head of the Bangladesh army keeps his fugitive brothers safe and helps them get rich. The army chief helps the prime minister pursue absolute power and attempt to remove the opposition. The Ahmed Clan has said that it has the tools of the state at its disposal, and can use it to abduct rivals and earn millions in bribes. It has also been uncovered that the country secretly buys spyware from Israel, a country that it does not recognise, and holders of the Bangladesh passport cannot visit. The spyware is incredibly invasive and can intercept calls and SMS messages, which can be used to track political enemies.

Singapore

An international conference on disaster management was taking place in Singapore. Among those attending was the head of the Bangladesh military, Aziz Ahmed.

He is a 4 star general with the title of “Chief of Army Staff”. Al Jazeera’s Eye unit tracked the general’s movements. As soon as his official duties were over, he flew to Kuala Lumpur. He sent a text message to a contact named “Hasan Hungary”.

Waiting at the airport are 2 men, identified from police files. They are Aziz’s brothers, one is the man Aziz referred to in his texts, Hasan Hungary, his real name being “Haris Ahmed”. He fled a murder conviction and now lives under a false identity. He calls himself “Mohammad Hasan”. Also waiting is the youngest of the Ahmed Clan, Josef Ahmed. He served over 20 years in jail for the same killing.

There appeared to be a change in plan. Instead of meeting his brothers in public, the general exits using the diplomatic channel. The brothers leave the airport in separate cars.

They regroup at a gated house at downtown Kuala Lumpur. Diplomatic cars from the Bangladesh High commission are parked outside.

The surveillance team watches the property. The following day, the general returns with his younger brother, Josef.

Another man emerges from behind the gates. This is Anis Ahmed, the oldest of the Ahmed Clan. Anis Ahmed has been on the run from a conviction for the same murder as his brothers. He has built a prosperous life in his new homeland of Kuala Lumpur. Property records identify Anis Ahmed and Mohammad Hasan as the 2 owners of the house they are staying at.

The Ahmed Clan sets off escorted by diplomatic cars. They head to the Bangladesh High Commission for the evening. At one time they were a small street gang. Now they’re increasing their power inside of Bangladesh, and growing wealthy abroad.

Members of the Ahmed Clan:

• Aziz, the general.
• Anis, the fugitive found in Malaysia.
• Josef, jailed for 2 decades.
• Haris, a killer on the run.

Hungary

The investigation moves to Budapest, Hungary.

For the past 5 years, Haris Ahmed has lived a double life in the Hungarian capital. A former business associate named “Sami” spoke to Aljazeera and stated, “Haris is a very cold-blooded criminal. He’s someone who would harm you if he doesn’t like you. You have to understand that this person is not a very normal person. He’s kind of a psychopath.”

“it all started back in 2014, December. I received a phone call from an acquaintance of mine that general Aziz Ahmed is visiting Hungary. He requested that I accompany him during his visit as there is no Bangladesh Embassy in Hungary.”

Sami took him sightseeing. The general had a proposal. He asked Sami if he could assist him to set up a business for his brother who was living in India at that time. Sami agreed to assist him to establish his business. After leaving Budapest, General Aziz sent an email where he asked about the things involved to start a business. Sami replied with detailed requirements and paperwork. Nothing raised any alarms to him. He had seen on all documents that his name was Mohammad Hassan and he was not curious enough to check them and go through his documents, and as they came from someone with a high role such as General Aziz there was no point where he doubted the authenticity of his documents.

Haris Ahmed

Aljazeera obtained the fake documents used to build up Haris Ahmed’s new identity.

It included a passport which was signed by Umme Kulsum, an official from the department of immigration and passports who was later charged as part of a criminal network involved in passport fraud.

To get a fake passport, a fake national identity card needed to be obtained. To obtain a fake national identity card you need to fake several documents including a fake birth certificate, education certificate, marriage certificate. Getting all of these documents within Bangladesh is committing many different criminal offences. Flying under his fake passport means he committed offences in all of the countries that he travelled to.

The documents were sent from General Aziz’s office. At that time, Aziz was head of Border Guards Bangladesh, or BGB. The witnesses on the documents are both members of the BGB. This suggests Aziz has managed to get these men to sign a document
which is forgery, and a crime. Another BGB officer sent an email to Aziz Ahmed, certifying a bank account held by Mohammad Hasan, or Haris Ahmed. A delivery note shows his role in shipping the fake documents. Haris Ahmed arrived in Budapest in early summer of 2015. Documents obtained by the eye unit show his efforts to build a new life under the direction of his brother, General Aziz. He sets up the Bay of Bengal company, with his wife, son and daughter-in-law as co-owners. The Bay of Bengal is an umbrella company, covering many businesses. Most of these businesses open up around Budapest and close within a year.

Graham Barrow is a man who advises banks on how to prevent money laundering. He states that this behaviour is very similar to structures put together for criminal intent. You’d look for any business that generates large amounts of cash, such as restaurants, hotels and hostels.

This is called “Commingling”, which is combining dirty money with clean money so you can’t tell which is which.

Haris doesn’t seem to care about his businesses. The Bay of Bengal reports many losses, losing thousands of dollars in various failed businesses.

Sami claims, “He would go out, drink at bars, and if he would meet a woman, he would bring them to the hostel and they would party. He really doesn’t match a businessman’s profile.”

Sami discovers that Haris’s financial interests lie elsewhere. Haris is a middleman who uses his connections to secure deals, especially official Bangladesh government contracts.

Haris says to Sami, “This is a secret I’ve let you in on. You can make money here.” Haris wants Sami to help with a contract to supply Hungarian-made bullets to the Bangladesh army.

Haris wants to use Sami as the front-man, as he is General Aziz’s brother and doesn’t want to show his identity. He makes it very clear that he doesn’t want himself to be identified, and that both Haris and Sami will make a lot of money. He says, “The money will just come in automatically. It will just flow in.”

Haris finds out that a deal for military supplies to Bangladesh is taking place without his knowledge. He plans to stop it. He says, “If I can’t block it in a way where they come running to us, then my name is not Haris.”

Sami says, “He would start making phone calls to different individuals in Bangladesh. He would bully them in very nasty ways. He will abuse the people that he is calling.”

Haris says his role as a middle man is sanctioned by the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina.

Haris claims, “Even Sheikh Hasina has said that if Haris wants to do anything, let him do it and we will help him.”

Dhaka

The destiny of the Ahmed Clan has for long been intertwined with the story of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

She is the eldest daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who founded Bangladesh as an independent nation in 1971. The country faces the aftermath of war. There is poverty and starvation. Law and order break down. As the crisis escalates, Sheikh Mujib abolishes opposition parties. The army stages a coup. Hasina and her sister are in Europe.

Hasina says, “The ambassador from Germany called and told me that there was a coup in Bangladesh. The moment I heard it, I felt that nobody was there. Perhaps we lost everybody, but we still didn’t know what happened.

In 1975, army officers entered Sheikh Mujib’s home. He is murdered, along with 13 family members, including his 10-year-old son. This murder was “one of the most brutal episodes in the history of Bangladesh” The murderers did not spare his family, including his wife, nephew and son. “A large part of Sheikh Hasina’s politics is shaped by her quest for justice and her mission to avenge the killings.

Less than 2 kilometres from where Sheikh Mujib was murdered, the Ahmed Clan lives in a sprawling district of Dhaka called Mohammadpur. Aziz is the second of 5 boys and was a young teenager at that time.

Iqbal knew the family and asked Al Jazeera to conceal his identity. He said, “His father had a low-level job, and didn’t earn much.” Growing up in poverty and among political strife, the 5 young Ahmed brothers form a close bond, but Aziz stands out. In 1981 he joined the Bangladesh Army. The other 4, Anis, Haris and Josef, and another brother, Tipu, turned to crime.

Iqbal claimed, “They were extorting money. They were doing kidnappings. They became a gang. They started very small. Then, they started killing people.

They had a specific area in Dhaka which they controlled which they divided amongst themselves with other crime bosses of Dhaka. They would go and extort businesses. They ruled over the area as if it were their personal thief towns."

Sami claims that they are killers who have caused a significant amount of damage to human life.

While living in exile in India, Sheikh Hasina becomes the leader of the Awami League, the party her father had left. In 1981, she returned to Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina says, “I came back when the government didn’t want me back and I tried to work for democracy.” The Military is currently running the country and Sheikh Hasina was placed under house arrest several times. There are numerous attacks on her life.

The Eye Unit has obtained covertly recorded phone calls of General Aziz and his colleague. They describe how Aziz and his brothers protected the leaders of Sheikh Hasina’s party, the Awami League.

The clan is feared but also faces vengeance. One brother, Tipu, is murdered. He was a very renowned gang member and “was a very sharp shooter”, and was “the most intelligent among the brothers.”

It was a time when politicians and street gangs needed each other. These types of gangs were involved in extortion, petty street crimes, and extracting money from businessmen. But they also acted as muscle for the politicians when required. They were used often by politicians during moments when it served their interests.

In the mid-1990s, Haris Ahmed joins Sheikh Hasina’s personal protection team.

Sheikh Hasina has praised his loyalty, Aziz claims inside of a phone call.

The Murder

A murder on a busy street in Mohammadpur would define the future of the Ahmed Clan.

Mustafa Rahman is said to be from a rival political party, one linked to the killing of Sheikh Hasina’s family. Mustafa and 2 colleagues are surrounded. Mustafa is rushed to hospital. He gives a witness statement to a magistrate.

It reads: “Josef, Anis and Haris have shot me. Haris shot me with a licenced gun. Josef took the pistol from my waist and shot me in the stomach with it. The others also had pistols in their hands and shot at random. I was shot 9 times.“

5 days later, he died.

With his testimony, he became the key witness at his own murder trial.

One month after his murder, Sheikh Hasina becomes the new Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

The 3 Ahmed brothers are charged with murder. 8 years later, when Hasina is no longer in power, they are convicted.

Josef is sentenced to death. Anis and Haris are sentenced to life imprisonment, but they’re already on the run.

They were hidden for 15 years until the Aljazeera eye witness tracks them down.

Sami discovered that his business partner, Haris Ahmed, is a wanted murderer on an Interpol red notice list.

He said to Aljazeera, “I feel that I have been used as a tool to provide a safe country for this man who established business with my assistants. I felt that Mr Haris and General Aziz have used me. I thought of reporting him to the police but I was fearful of my life.

Sami tried to cut ties with the Ahmed Clan, but when he does, the general sends some threatening emails.

Sami says, “General Aziz became very violent with his words. He became very furious and directly threatened me.” General Aziz said in an email, “If my brother has to return to Bangladesh, the people responsible will repent. They will curse their life, I promise.”

By 2019, Sami had had enough of their schemes, but went on with them. Except that now, he was working with Aljazeera’s eye unit.

Israeli Spyware

In February, Sami was contacted by a friend of his who was serving with the DGFI. 4 officers were visiting Budapest for some official reason.

He invited the officers for dinner. The officers said they would have 3 more guests with them, 2 Israeli’s and an Irish man.

The 2 Israeli intelligence experts decide not to attend dinner, only the Irish man and the Bangladeshi’s get out.

The Bangladeshi officers introduced Sami to the man. The man introduced himself as a contractor for some surveillance equipment company. He heard them discussing purchasing some spyware which lets them do surveillance on anybody’s mobile phone. The contractor said that the people of Bangladesh should never know about any of it, and that the product has any affiliation with Israel. Sami decided to record this conversation.

The Irish man is recorded saying, “My company is based in Singapore. So I am the selling agent.” This man is James Maloney, CEO of Sovereign Systems. He continues: “We can supply WiFi interception, as well as Celullar, as well as video surveillance.” The documents claim that Bangladesh is indirectly buying surveillance equipment from a company in Israel. PICSIX is founded by former Israeli intelligence experts.

Bangladesh has no diplomatic relations with Israel and cannot legally trade with it. Bangladesh citizens cannot travel to Israel. It says that it will not recognise Israel until there is an independent Palestinian state. This technology can be used to invasively spy on civilians and political opponents.

There’s no doubt that this will cause outrage within Bangladesh.

The United Nations

After the Investigation, the United Nations has called for a full investigation into evidence of corruption and illegality involving the Bangladesh army. Bangladesh military commanders claimed that the Israeli Spyware was “for one of the Army Contingents due to be deployed in the UN Peacekeeping Mission”.

A spokesperson for the UN said that this was not the case.

“Such equipment has not been deployed with Bangladeshi contingents in United Nations peacekeeping operations,” the UN spokesperson told Al Jazeera.

“We are aware of the reporting by Al Jazeera Investigations concerning allegations of corruption against senior officials in Bangladesh and the press release issued by the Ministry of Defence of Bangladesh. The allegation of corruption is a serious matter that should be investigated by the relevant authorities.”

Bangladesh is the largest overall contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping missions, with more than 6,800 presently deployed in peacekeeping operations around the world.