Farmers Bank scam: Chisty sued again for embezzlement

FT ONLINE 

Another case has been filed against Farmers Bank's former audit committee chairman Mahbubul Haque Chisty on a charge of embezzling bank funds.

On Wednesday, Anti-Corruption Commission's (ACC) Deputy Assistant Director Md Shahjahan Miraz filed the case with the commission's Dhaka-1 combined district office.   

ACC spokesperson Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya confirmed the matter to FT Team.

Chisty was accused of embezzling Tk70.61 lakh in the name of supplying the bank's interior decoration materials. 

This is the 13th case filed against Chisty, who is now in prison. The previous cases were filed on charges of scam and amassing wealth illegally.   

Farmers Bank was renamed Padma Bank after the scandal.

Apart from Chisty, three others were named in the latest case – Head of Padma Bank's Banking Operation Division Prakash Chandra Modak, National Bank's Managing Director (former managing director of Farmers Bank) Chowdhury Mostak Ahmed, and Chisty's brother-in-law Mostafa Kamal.   

Kamal, who is also in jail, has so far been accused in three cases.

According to the case statement, the accused abused their power to show tenders and work orders in three branches of the bank at inflated prices without estimations, and thus misappropriated Tk70.61 lakh.    

Chisty and Kamal could not be contacted for comments as they are in prison while Mostak did not receive the call. 

The movable and immovable properties owned by Chisty and his family have already been seized and frozen in connection with cases filed on charges of obtaining wealth illegally. 

The properties are worth over Tk100 crore on paper but officials said their real value would exceed Tk1,000 crore.