59 cases await trials in Tk3,500cr BASIC loan scams

Fifty-nine cases in Tk3,500 crore loan scams of state-owned BASIC Bank now await trials after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)  pressed charges against 148 people, including the lender's former chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu, who is known as the mastermind of the swindles.

In July last year, the watchdog submitted charge sheets in court for 59 cases related to this incident. Bachchu has been named as a defendant in all but one of these cases.

Although the allegations involve embezzling Tk3,500 crore, the case documents have specific evidence of swindling and laundering Tk2,265 crore, according to the ACC.

The ACC says it is now waiting for the trial of these cases to commence in the special judge's court in Dhaka.

In 2009, the government appointed Bachchu, a former parliament member of the Jatiya Party, as the chairman of BASIC Bank.

The ACC has been investigating allegations of irregular disbursement of loans from BASIC Bank's Gulshan, Dilkusha, and Shantinagar branches during Bachchu's tenure, from his appointment until 2013. Bachchu was removed from the post of chairman in 2014.

The board of directors of the bank was accused of illegally approving loans without checking the loan documents, providing loans without collateral, and lending to shell companies and fake individuals without following rules and regulations.

According to Bangladesh Bank's investigation, between 2009 and 2013, when Bachchu was the chairman of the board of directors of BASIC Bank, around Tk2,265 crore was swindled from the bank.

The ACC filed 56 cases in 2015 and two more in 2019 against 120 people with Motijheel, Paltan, and Gulshan police stations in the capital. After completing the investigation, the number of accused has increased to 148.

Due to the prolonged delay in completing the investigation of these cases, anger was expressed against the ACC in parliament and the country's highest court.

Additionally, the Appellate Division expressed frustration that Bachchu was not named as an accused during the filing of the cases.

To expedite the investigation of these cases, from 2018 to 2022, three separate benches of the High Court set a deadline of three months in four phases.

After filing charge sheets, the ACC said there is no legal obstacle to the arrest of Bachchu, who is considered the mastermind behind these scams, according to the charge sheets. However, Bachchu has not been arrested thus far.

The ACC also sent a letter to the immigration police to prevent Bachchu from leaving the country.

An ACC source said Bachchu fled the country before the charge sheets were filed. The mastermind of the BASIC bank scam remains at large.