The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has moved to file a major corruption and money laundering case against senior executives of Bashundhara Group and present and former directors and officials of National Bank over the alleged embezzlement of Tk 1,325 crore in bank loans.
Director General of ACC Akhtar Hossen briefed reporters in this regard at the head office of the Commission on Wednesday.
According to the case summary, the accused include Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, Chairman of Bashundhara Group; Safiat Sobhan, Managing Director of Bashundhara Multi Food Products Ltd; Moynal Hossain Chowdhury, director of the same company; and two authorised signatories of the company’s current account—Major General( retired) Mohammad Mahbub Haider Khan and Captain( retired) Mohammad Ruhul Amin.
Several senior National Bank officials and board members have also been named. They include former branch manager and branch credit committee chairman Md Ekramul Haque, former and serving senior vice presidents, vice presidents and credit committee members of the bank’s Dilkusha branch, as well as former managing director Chowdhury Mostak Ahmed (C M Ahmed) and multiple current and former directors of the bank. Among them is AKM Enamul Haque Shamim, director of National Bank PLC.
The ACC alleged that the accused, acting in collusion and with dishonest intent, the National Bank officials abused their authority and violated the bank’s Policy and Procedural Guidelines on Credit Risk Management to approve and disburse massive loans in the name of Bashundhara Multi Food Products Ltd.
Investigators say loans were approved without adequate supporting collateral, relying instead on fixed and floating securities, and without mandatory Fortnightly Stock Reports. The borrower’s repayment capacity was allegedly not assessed before sanctioning the large loans. Factory or business inspection reports and stock reports were also missing, while blank charge documents without dates or stamps were accepted despite personal guarantees being in place.
The bank allegedly failed to properly review the borrower’s liabilities with other banks and financial institutions, even though Bashundhara Multi Food Products Ltd already had loans elsewhere.
Under these circumstances, the accused allegedly approved Tk 575 crore in funded loans and Tk 750 crore in non-funded facilities, amounting to Tk 1,325 crore. Of the funded loans, Tk 575 crore was disbursed, but the amount was not repaid, the summary said.
Diversion of funds
Of the disbursed money, Tk 503.125 crore was allegedly diverted outside the approved purposes. The ACC claims the funds were transferred through online clearing into accounts of various Bashundhara Group concerns, used to settle internal bills, adjust CC (hypothecation) and OD loans, withdrawn in cash, and even used to pay salaries and allowances of employees of East West Property Development (Pvt) Ltd for June 2018.
Although the loans were sanctioned for expenses such as customs, port and transport charges, C&F charges, office and warehouse costs, marketing, sales, advertising, administrative and general expenses, and LC-related costs, the money was allegedly used for purposes outside those conditions.
The alleged acts constitute offences punishable under Sections 420, 409 and 109 of the Penal Code, Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, and Sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, according to the ACC.
The case is being lodged by Mahmudul Hasan Bhuiyan, Assistant Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters and a member of a joint inquiry and investigation team.
The joint team is led by ACC Deputy Director Jahangir Alam and includes officials from the ACC, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Bangladesh Police , Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate (Dhaka South), and the National Board of Revenue.
ACC officials said the case filing process is currently underway.