Orion Group Chairman Obaidul Karim has fled the country, evading the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) while a corruption case is pending. He left Bangladesh on July 31 using a Dominican passport (visa-free or visa-on-arrival access). Although Obaidul Karim was previously banned from traveling abroad twice, he managed to evade the ACC and flee.
Several corruption cases, including money laundering and illegal acquisition of wealth, are being tried against Obaidul Karim and his family members. The Dhaka Metropolitan Special Judge's Court banned Obaidul Karim and his family members from traveling abroad on February 17, following an application by the ACC. Later, permission was sought for Obaidul Karim's wife, Arjuda Karim, and daughter, Zarin Karim, to go abroad for treatment and to perform Umrah Hajj and to act as attendants in this regard. The Dhaka Metropolitan Special Judge's Court issued an order on March 16 allowing Obaidul Karim and Arjuda Karim to travel abroad after the hearing. The ACC appealed to the High Court against this order. After a hearing on March 18, a bench of High Court Justice Mohammad Ali and Justice Sheikh Tahsin Ali suspended the order allowing Obaidul Karim and his wife, Arjuda Karim, to travel abroad until April 21. The High Court issued a rule at the same time asking why the March 16 order of the Dhaka Metropolitan Special Judge's Court should not be declared null and void.
Meanwhile, the Dhaka Metropolitan Special Judge's Court granted Zarin Karim's application to travel abroad on April 21, although it did not issue an order on March 16. Zarin's application for permission to travel abroad states that Zarin Karim is serving as the Bangladeshi consul in the Caribbean country of the Dominican Republic. She received his appointment letter as Bangladeshi Consul to the Caribbean country of the Dominican Republic on February 25, 2024, from Naeem Uddin Ahmed, Chief of Protocol Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She sought permission to travel abroad to perform official duties. She then traveled abroad on April 22, subject to court permission.
On the other hand, Obaidul Karim again applied to the Special Judge's Court to travel abroad in July, even though the suspension of the order to allow him to travel abroad for medical treatment and Umrah had expired, while the High Court's rule was still pending. The Dhaka Metropolitan Special Judge's Court approved the application on July 30 after the hearing. Obaidul Karim left the country without delay after this order, using a Dominican passport.
Later, the ACC again appealed to the High Court against the order of the special judge's court. After the hearing, a bench of Justice Mohammad Ali and Justice Yusuf Abdullah Sumon of the High Court suspended for three months the July 30 order of the Special Judge's Court allowing Obaidul Karim to travel abroad in an order issued on August 10. At the same time, the High Court issued a four-week rule asking why the order of the special judge's court should not be declared null and void.
Obaidul Karim left the country on July 31, 10 days before the High Court's order, on the basis of a Dominican passport instead of using a Bangladeshi passport.
"The ACC follows the existing legal process in every case. The ACC has followed the legal process properly in this case as well," Akhtarul Islam, Deputy Director (Public Relations) of ACC, told Khaborer Kagoj in this regard.
