HC summons Basic Bank scam investigation officers

FT ONLINE

The High Court on Wednesday summoned all the investigating officers (IO) of 56 graft cases filed over the BASIC Bank loan scam to appear before it on Wednesday next.

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim asked the IOs including Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Director Syed Iqbal Hossain to appear before it to explain their position over why they could not finish investigation on schedule time.

The court also asked them to appear along with all documents of the cases, said ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam.

He said as per the law, an investigation officer can take maximum of 180 days to finish his task but after passing of two and half years, the investigation of the cases could not be finished.

The ACC filed 56 cases with three police stations in the capital accusing more than 100 individuals, including 26 bank officials, in September of 2015 while the commission filed another five cases last year.

On July 14, 2014, the central bank sent a report to the ACC about the detail of embezzlement and found the banks former chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu’s illegal influence in all the activities of the bank.

According to an inquiry of Bangladesh Bank, about Tk 4,500 crore was swindled out from Basic Bank during six years while Bachhu served as its chairman.

He resigned from the Bank on July 4, 2014, as the finance ministry sent a letter to Bangladesh Bank to dissolve the then existing committee of the bank on May 29, 2014.