BASIC Bank loan scam
ACC goes slow in pressing charges
Habibullah Mizan
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is unnecessarily delaying the submission of the charge-sheets in 56 cases filed in connection with BASIC Banks Tk. 2,036-crore loan scam, even though most of the investigations in the cases were completed long ago. According to credible sources in the ACC, charge-sheets are not being submitted on the excuse of legal complexities. A writ petition was filed in the High Court to exclude the names of the banks ex-chairman and board members in the charge-sheets of the cases.
The court ordered the investigation progress report to be submitted on February 10 last year. However, only three organisations have submitted their progress reports so far.
The ACC is delaying submission of the charge-sheets, saying it was awaiting the verdict of the writ petition, disclosed some high-level officials on condition of anonymity. The ACCs chief prosecutor, advocate Khorshed Alam Khan, said, According to the order of the court, there is no barrier to submit charge-sheets. The High Court, too, has not ordered postponement of the charge-sheet.
ACC secretary Abu Md Mostafa Kamal told The Independent: The ACC does not interfere in the investigation of the investigation officers. We do not give any instructions.
It is our rule to submit in accordance with the evidence the officer obtains, he added.
Replying to a question, Kamal said the investigation officers can submit their charge-sheets if their investigations are completed. We shall approve the charge-sheets after verification, he added.
Replying to a question, the ACC secretary said, There is no pressure on us to not include the name of the former chairman of BASIC Bank.
We do not need to get permission from anybody to submit charge-sheet or on any other issues, he asserted.
We do not wait for any signal. The ACC is independent, as per the law. We are also working independently, and shall work independently in future, he added.
On September 2014, one Harun or Rashid filed a writ petition to include the names of former BASIC Bank chairman and board members in connection with their direct involvement in the loan scam.
The 56 cases are being investigated by ACC deputy directors Ritik Shaha, Mohammad Ibrahim, Mohammad Morshed Alam, Mirza Jahidul Alam, Mahbubul Alam, assistant director Md Joynal Abedin, and sub-assistant directors Md Shajahan Siraj and ASM Shah Alam.
Several investigation officers said on condition of anonymity that they are yet to grill the former chairman of BASIC Bank and other top brass. They do not want to submit charge-sheets without accusing him and others, fearing censure from the apex court. Bangladesh Bank and the external audit firms hired by BASIC Bank found that BASIC Banks former chairman, Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu, was involved in anomalies related to the granting of loans, job appointments and promotions. The reports also found evidence against 27 officials, 56 businesses and eight surveyor firms. The ACC began investigating the scam in connection with massive loans granted by the state-owned banks Gulshan, Dilkusha, and Shantinagar branches between 2009 and 2012. Most of the loans remained unpaid because many of the borrowers were untraceable. The bank officials had pointed accusing fingers at Hye, but the ACC cases filed in September 2015, four years after the investigation began, did not accuse him. Hye, a former MP of the Jatiya Party, was appointed chairman in 2009. He was reappointed in 2012. At present, he is absconding.
