Tk3,100 crore recovered from Basic Bank scam: ACC tells HC
The remaining money has not yet been recovered as the ACC has yet to trace its whereabouts, the ACC report says
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has told the High Court (HC) that about Tk3,100 crore out of the Tk4,500 crore in the Basic Bank scam has been recovered and deposited in the government treasury.
This information was disseminated in a report submitted by the ACC to the virtual bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman on Tuesday.
According to the ACC report, Tk3,100 crore of the Basic Bank scam has been returned to the government treasury. That money was taken to the government treasury through seizing the bank accounts of the people involved in the scandal and confiscating their assets. Additionally, the ACC obtained the cash from many accused in the cases.
The report further said that the remaining more than Tk1,000 crore has not yet been recovered as the ACC investigators have yet to trace the whereabouts of the money.
The ACC has given its explanation in the High Court over the delay in completing the investigations.
The chargesheets will be submitted as soon as possible after the whereabouts of the remaining Tk1,000 crore of this scam is traced, the ACC mentioned in the report.
Earlier on 21 January, Mohammad Ali, a branch manager of Basic Bank and also an accused in eight cases of loan scam of this bank, filed a bail petition.
In this bail hearing, the HC expressed its frustration over the non-submission of chargesheets in 56 cases filed in connection with Basic Bank loan scam.
However, the court denied bail to Mohammad Ali and fixed 2 March for the next hearing.
At that time, the court directed the ACC to submit a full progress report of 56 cases within a month.
The 4,500 crore taka was laundered by Basic Bank through loan forgery between 2009 and 2013. This is the single biggest loan scam in Bangladesh's history.
In 2015, the ACC filed 56 cases regarding the loan scam. But neither Bacchu nor the members of the board of directors of the bank were shown accused in the cases.
Though there is an obligation to submit a chargesheet in a corruption case within 180 days, the Anti-Corruption Commission has yet to submit a chargesheet for the 56 cases filed in 2015.