Man charged with bribing foreign police to scrub his name from wife’s death probe

A Queensland man named Awlad Hossain, 51, has been charged with bribery for allegedly attempting to influence Bangladeshi officials, according to prosecutors. Hossain is accused of conspiring with others in Bangladesh to transfer around $90,000 in order to bribe public officials and remove his name from police records, as detectives probe his wife's suspected murder.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) uncovered this case after learning that the cause of his estranged wife Rehana Parvin's death in Bangladesh in September 2024 was suspicious. Hossain's estranged wife, an Australian citizen and mother of five, was found dead in a small village in Bangladesh. Police from both Bangladesh and Australia are currently investigating the case.

Hossain was arrested by AFP officers on Tuesday, and authorities executed search warrants at his homes in Goodna and Redbank Plains, seizing an electronic device. They also searched financial institutions in Sydney and Brisbane, seizing international funds transfer and bank records. Australian authorities have never before charged someone with foreign bribery of a public official for personal gain.