Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shamsul Arefin gave the order on Thursday, scrapping Hossain’s bail plea in the case filed by the ACC.

The BNP leader had been arrested from his Gulshan residence on Wednesday night.

The national anti-graft agency on Feb 6 filed a money laundering case against Hossain, who was the health minister in the BNP-led coalition of 2001-06.

During Thursday’s hearing, ACC lawyer Kabir Hossain told the court that Hossain and his wife Bilkis Akter had siphoned off over Tk 95 million between 2001 and 2006.

The money had been parked at Lloyds TSB Offshore Private Bank in the UK, he claimed.

Defence counsel Masud Ahmed Talukder alleged the case was politically motivated.

He said his client had not been served any notice before the case was filed. The ACC lawyer, however, said there was no provision making that a legal obligation in a laundering case.

Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, taking part in the hearing, alleged the ACC case was ‘false’.

“I did not siphon off any money,” he said, “I submitted accounts of all money in May 2013.

“My wife and I earned the money [kept in London] between 1970 and 1975 and invested in the London stock exchange.

“I have paid tax over my legally earned money. Earning money and siphoning off money are different things,” Hossain said.

The BNP leader was quizzed by ACC Deputy Director Ahsan Ali for over three hours on Thursday morning. He was then taken to the court.

At a press conference, ACC Commissioner M Sahabuddin said, “England’s financial intelligence agency had first notified us of the money laundering by Khandker Mosharraf.

“That [bank] account (belonging to Hossain) was sealed at our request.”

The ACC filed a case on Feb 6 this year with Ramna police after getting documents of the account.

Hossain had secured an anticipatory bail in the case from the High Court but Appellate Division of the Supreme Court scrapped that on Feb 24 in response to an ACC appeal.

A former teacher of the Dhaka University’s geology department, Hossain has been a BNP Standing Committee member since 1994.

During the BNP-led coalition’s 2001-06 term, the former Comilla-2 MP was made the health minister.