BASIC Bank scam
ACC gets HC scorn
The High Court (HC) yesterday slammed the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) for being sluggish and asked why none of the beneficiaries of the Basic Bank loan scam has been arrested yet.
Thousands of takas have been taken from Basic Bank. But the ACC is yet to arrest any of the beneficiaries. Why did the ACC not name all the offenders, including former Basic Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu and the board members, in the cases filed in the Basic Bank loan scam? the HC bench asked ACC counsel advocate Khurshid Alam Khan.
The HC bench, comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahman and Justice Shohidul Karim, was hearing the three bail petitions filed by Md Salim, who was the general manager of the Internal Credit Division of Basic Bank during the loan scam.
The HC bench also observed that the ACC did not seem to apply the policy of the law is equal for all. However, the HC bench granted bail to Salim in three loan scam cases.
On July 26, the same HC bench had directed the ACC to probe the alleged involvement of Bacchu and the board members in the loan scam. According to a Bangladesh Bank inquiry, about Tk. 4,500 crore was siphoned off from Basic Bank between 2009 and 2013, when Bacchu chaired the board.
During yesterdays hearing, the HC bench told the ACC counsel that all the offenders and the beneficiaries who were involved in the Basic Bank loan scam should have been arrested in the meantime. Had your commission (ACC) noted our previous observations, it would have arrested all the offenders who were involved in the Basic Bank loan scam, it said.
The ACC filed many cases in September 2015, accusing a number of bank officials and two dozen borrowing firms. But it did not file any case against Bacchu and the board members.
The HC bench also wanted to know from the ACC counsel why the investigation process has been delayed. Even two years after the cases were filed, the ACC has not been able to complete the investigation.
The bench also remarked that the ACC had paved the way for the offenders to escape. The loan scam cases have been pending for more than three years without the submission of investigation reports. This has paved the way for the offenders to evade the trial proceedings, it observed.
It was not a complicated murder case that the ACC needed more time to complete the investigation, the court noted. Rather, the loan scam cases are quite clear and the investigation report should have been submitted within a short time, it added.
Not only the loan scam, you (ACC) have to prove your transparency, efficiency and neutrality. You do not have a pick-and-choose option. The ACC should work without any partiality, and all offenders should be brought to justice, the HC bench said.
In May 2014, Bangladesh Bank fired Basic Bank managing director Kazi Fakhrul Islam for serious irregularities at the state-run bank. Bangladesh Bank found him guilty on seven counts, including lack of sound management, failure to protect depositors interest and loan irregularities.
According to the central banks probes, Basic Bank had given loans without verifying the customers creditworthiness and proper documents. The bank had also extended loans to defaulters.
Most of the irregularities were reported from the banks Dilkusha, Shantinagar, and Gulshan branches.
