The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday interrogated Sonali Bank’s Managing Director Pradip Kumar Datta and Jatiya Sangshad’s Chief Whip’s elder brother Maksud Mohammad Farhad on a loan scam.
ACC’s Barisal District Office’s Director Belal Hossain and Assistant Director Bahadur Alam grilled them in the commission’s head office between 10:00am and 3:00pm.
Sources said, Sonali Bank disbursed Tk 1.20 crore as loan to Patuakhali Jute Mills in 1989. The Chief Whip A S M Firoj and his brothers are the owners of this mill.
The bank rescheduled the loan account eight times, waiving interest for Tk 13 crore in violation of bank rules.
Sonali Bank rescheduled the loan latest on November 4 in 2013. According to the Bank Company Act-1991, no borrower is eligible for this facility more than three times.
It should be noted that ACC asked the chief whip and his another brother A B M Reza to appear in the commission yesterday.
But they did not appear. However, their elder brother Farhad with his son Mohammad Sakib came to the commission on behalf of them.
Mohammad Farhad told media that the allegation raised against his brothers was false and wrong. “I have come here on their behalf to show respect to the ACC as they did not come”
While leaving the anti-graft watchdog office, Pradip Kumar Datta depicted the whole story of the loan scam to newsmen that Patuakhali Jute Mills launched its journey in 1985 with the financial assistance from Bangladesh Shilpa Bank (Now BDBL).
In 1989, the owners of the company mortgaged 170.87 decimals of land and some machinery to Sonali Bank and received Tk 1.20 crore as loan, he added.
“The borrowers availed the facilities of interest waiving and loan re-schedule, as declared by the Awami League government in 1998”, he said.
He continued, when they came to take the facilities on October 11 in 2010, they were asked to deposit Tk 1.22 crore as loan installment.
But they paid Tk 20 lakh only. Their all the cheques were rejected.
“At last, they were asked to pay Tk 4.56 crore but the owners did not pay any taka. The loan remained stopped now”, he said.
So, the action has been recommended against the owners of Patuakhali Jute Mill.
