13 cenbank officials skip ACC quizzing over S Alam loan scam; now 17 summoned
Confirming the matter to The Business Standard, ACC Deputy Director Aktarul Islam said the letter stated that the officials had been asked to appear on 11 and 13 November but they failed to comply
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had summoned 13 Bangladesh Bank officials for questioning over their alleged connection in sanctioning thousands of crores of taka in loans to S Alam Group and its associates, but they did not appear.
So, now 17 central bank officials have to appear before the commission on 8-9 December, said a letter signed by ACC Deputy Director and inquiry officer Yasir Arafat today (21 November).
Confirming the matter to The Business Standard, ACC Deputy Director Aktarul Islam said the letter stated that the officials had been asked to appear on 19 and 20 November but they failed to comply.
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"Therefore, they have been asked to appear again and provide an oral or written statement. Failure to appear on the scheduled time and date will be considered as no statement from the said officials regarding the complaint and action will be taken as per law," Aktarul said.
Six of the 13 officials had been asked to appear at the ACC headquarters on 19 November, while the remaining seven were scheduled to appear the next day.
However, Husne Ara Shikha, executive director and spokesperson of the central bank, told TBS today, "None of our officials who were summoned by the ACC on the issue of loan irregularities have received the letter yet. Due to which, they did not appear before the commission.
"When the letter reaches them, they will definitely appear before the ACC," she added.
The ACC has asked Bangladesh Bank Inspection Department's joint directors Sunirban Barua, Anik Talukder and Belal Hossain; additional director Salima Begum; deputy directors Md Jubair Hossain, Rubel Chowdhury, Md Ziauddin Bablu, Debashish Bishash, and Khorshedul Alam to appear before it on 8 December.
Besides, the commission asked Bangladesh Bank Inspection Department Joint Director Syed M Arif-un-Nabi, additional directors Mohammad Anwar Hossain, Md Shoayeb Chowdhury, Md Manjur Hossain Khan, Shankar Kanti Ghosh and Md Abdur Rauf, deputy director Lenin Azad Palash and director Md Sarwar Hossain to appear on 9 December.
Among them, Belal Hossain, Md Ziauddin Bablu, Debashish Bishash and Khorshedul Alam have been added to the list.
According to the letter sent to the central bank officials earlier, Golam Sarwar Chowdhury, proprietor of M/s Murad Enterprise and customer of Islami Bank's Chaktai branch; United Super Traders, customer of the Jubilee Road branch; Century Food Products, a customer of the Khatunganj branch; and others embezzled money from the bank in the name of loans.
These businesses took around Tk3,300 crore loan from the branches which was later funnelled to S Alam Group and his associates, according to an ACC source.
