DHAKA, Oct 3, 2022 (BSS) - A Dhaka court today convicted and sentenced a former MLSS of Ministry of Defence (MoD) to seven-year imprisonment in a case lodged over withdrawing pension of a former assistant secretary of the ministry, posing as his widow.

Judge Md Shahidul Islam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-7 pronounced the judgment in absence of the convict Shefali Begum as the trial was held in absentia.

According to the case documents, Assistant Secretary Hamidur Rahman went on retirement in 1986 and died on September 18, 1999. As his wife died before his death and their children were adults at the time, his pension process ended with his death. But on May 28, 2007, almost eight years after Hamidur's death, Shefali Begum applied for family pension, posing as his widow.

Shefali submitted two forged marriage certificates, succession certificate. She withdrew Taka seven lakh from 1999 to 2016 through forged documents and embezzled the money.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) later filed the case with Sher-E-Bangla Nagar Police Station. The ACC on May 8, 2018, filed charge-sheet in the case. The court on January 4, 2019, framed charges against Shefali and initiated the trial.