Brother and nephew of former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday testified in a case against him and 10 others on the charge of allegedly embezzling Taka four crore from the then Farmers Bank and laundering the money abroad. Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha’s brother Narendra Kumar Sinha and nephew Shankhajit Sinha testified as prosecution witness (PW) number 15 and 16 and they were cross-examined by the defence lawyers.
Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 then adjourned the hearing till January 13. Sixteen prosecution witnesses out of the total 18 have so far testified in the case.
The same court on August 13 framed charges in the case.
Investigation Officer (IO) and ACC Director Benjir Ahmed filed the charge-sheet in the case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Qayes on December 10, last year.
The court, on February 20, this year, transferred the case to the Special Judge Court-4 of Dhaka for further proceedings.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case on July 10, last year, for embezzling Taka four crore from the then Farmers Bank and later, laundering the money abroad.
The other accused people are- former Farmers Bank Managing Director AKM Shameem, first Vice-Presidents Swapan Kumar Roy and Shafiuddin Askaree, Senior Executive Vice-President Gazi Salauddin, Vice-President M Lutful Haque, bank’s Entrepreneur Director Md Mahbubul Haque Chisty alias Babul Chisty, bank clients Md Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, his uncle Ranajit Chandra Saha, and Ranajit’s wife Santree Roy.
According to the allegation, Md Shahjahan and Niranjan took the money on loan from then Farmers Bank, which was later transferred to Justice Sinha’s Sonali Bank account, showing it was earned from selling of his (Sinha’s) house.
