5 Janata Bank officials grilled

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UNB, Dhaka :
The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday interrogated five officials of Janata Bank in connection with the alleged embezzlement of nearly Tk 1,300 crore by Ananda Shipyard.
An ACC team, led by its deputy director and inquiry officer Zainul Abedin Shibly, questioned them for about three hours from 10 am at the Commission’s head office, ACC public relations officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told UNB.
The Janata Bank officials, grilled yesterday, were General Manager (retd) M Nuruzzaman, deputy general manager Nazrul Islam, first assistant general managers Shamsunnahar Begum and Enamul Haque and assistant general manager Afzal Hossain.
In April 2014, the ACC launched a probe into the allegation of swindling nearly Tk 1,300 crore from 14 commercial banks and financial institutions by Ananda Shipyard, a manufacturer and exporter of ships.
According to the graft allegation, Ananda Shipyard took loans of Tk 1,300 crore showing fake documents. The banks disbursed the loans violating banking rules when Ananda Shipyard had no experience of building ships.
The Bangladesh Bank in its inspections also found such irregularities in disbursing loans by the banks and financial institutions.
According to the central bank report, Ananda Shipyard took loans of Tk 456.34 crore from IBBL; about Tk 187 crore from AB Bank Limited; Tk 221.2 crore from Mercantile Bank; Tk 114.21 crore from One Bank; Tk 238 crore from Janata Bank; Tk 24 crore from Bangladesh Development Bank Limited (BDBL); and Tk 15.14 crore from NCC Bank.
Ananda Shipyard also took loans of Tk 1.93 crore from Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company Limited (BIFCL); Tk 23.18 crore from Finix Finance & Development Limited; Tk 11.75 crore from Fareast Finance & Development Limited; Tk 3.72 crore from IDLC; Tk 2.92 crore from Housing Finance & Investment Limited; Tk 3.92 crore from Hajj Finance Company Limited; and Tk 3 crore from Premier Leasing & Finance Limited.
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