Mirza Abbas, political adviser to the prime minister, has been acquitted in 15 corruption cases over alleged irregularities in the allocation of 18 abandoned government houses.

All the other accused in the cases were also acquitted, with Judge Muhammad Kamrul Hasan Khan of Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-3 delivering the verdict on Thursday, bdnews24.com reports.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the cases with Motijheel Police Station in March 2007 against Abbas, then a minister, and 11 others over the allocation of the houses.

The cases alleged that the accused had rigged tenders to sell the properties at abnormally low prices during the four-party alliance government’s tenure.

Abbas’s lawyer Mohi Uddin Chowdhury said all the accused had been acquitted in the 15 cases, although three had died during the trial.

“We have received justice in this verdict,” he said.

The ACC submitted its charge sheet on September 20, 2007.

It alleged that the accused had benefited financially by selling the houses through rigged tenders at prices below their actual value, causing the government a loss of Tk 1.28 billion.

The chargesheet named 14 additional suspects, alleging that they had sought “undue benefits”.

The court later framed charges against 21 people, including Abbas, a BNP Standing Committee member, and ordered the trial to proceed.