Mahabub Alam :
Mystery shrouds over the inquiry of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) into a complaint that Tk 3,500 crore was allegedly embezzled from the state-owned BASIC Bank Ltd.
The ACC formed probe teams five times since 2010 after it received information about the bank’s embezzlement of fund. But no apparent progress is yet to be found.
The latest four-member team was formed only few days ago, making ACC Deputy Director Syed Iqbal as its chief. Deputy Assistant Directors Mohammad Mahbub Alam, AKM Fazle Hossain and Mohammad Zoynal Abedin are other members of the team.
When contacted, Syed Iqbal said that he also heard that he has been included in the new team. “But I’m yet to receive any official paper directing to discharge my duty in this matter.”
When he was asked some other questions, he said, “Please do not ask me too many questions in this connection as I have some restrictions”.
There is confusion whether the commission has taken the allegation into cognizance afresh.
Sources said, the commission has issued new memo numbers in its new investigation direction paper to look into the matter. If it would not have taken into cognizance the complaint anew, there had been no need of such numbers, they added.
ACC Chairman M Badiuzzaman said the ACC has been investigating the matter for a long. “So, there is no need of fresh cognizance. It only reformed the team,” he said.
Bangladesh Bank sent the report to the ACC in July this year detailing how borrowers embezzled money from the BASIC Bank through fake companies and suspected accounts, after concluding a special inspection into the scam.
The central bank, through its inquiry found huge irregularities in the bank’s Gulshan, Shantinagar and Dilkusha branches. It suspects a chunk of Tk 4,500 crore, embezzled from BASIC Bank, has gone out of the country.
Earlier, BB also sent a primary probe report last year and asked the anti-graft body to look into the matter. But the commission could not make any tangible progress.
It is reportedly learnt that the inquiry into the scam of the state-owned bank was postponed long ago due to unknown reasons.
Earlier, ACC Deputy Director and also Investigation Officer of the matter Syed Iqbal admitted that the inquiry into the scam was not in operation for a long time.
In November 2012, ACC formed a four-member inquiry team with its senior Deputy Director Mir Mohammad Joynal Abedin Shibli as the chief on receipt of information of misappropriation of Tk 3,500 crore from the bank.
Later, on March 10 in 2013, another team was formed with Deputy Director Syed Iqbal Hossain as its head.
