Laundering Tk 95cr: Arrest warrant issued against ex-Basic Bank boss Bachchu

A Dhaka court yesterday issued arrest warrants against former BASIC Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu and four of his family members in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission over embezzling and laundering around Tk 95 crore.

Judge Mohammed Ash-Shams Joglul Hossain of the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order after taking cognisance of the charges brought against Bachchu and five others.

The judge directed the Banani Police Station OC to submit by November 4 the reports on the execution of the arrest warrants.

Bachchu and his family members are on the run. Another accused, Amin Ahmad, owner of Le Meridien Dhaka, is now on bail. Amin was sent to jail on July 10 after he had surrendered to a Dhaka court.

On May 27, ACC Assistant Director Mohammad Neyamul Ahsan Gazi, also the investigation officer of the case, pressed charges against Bachchu, his wife Shirin Aktar and four other accused in the case.

The IO showed Bachchu and four others as fugitives and appealed to the court to issue arrest warrants against them as they did not secure bail.

ACC Deputy Director Mohammad Nurul Huda filed the case with its integrated district office of Dhaka-1 on October 2 last year.

According to the case statement, Bachchu bought 30.25 katha land from Amin for Tk 110 crore, but two deeds showed the property value to be Tk 15.25 crore. Amin allegedly assisted in ensuring that the price is shown lower than the market price.

Bachchu later transferred the property ownership to his wife and sons Rafa and Anik. He also tried to cover up his illegal income and devalued the land by Tk 94.75 crore, depriving the government of over Tk 8.52 crore in revenue, according to the case statement.

On June 12 last year, the ACC submitted charge sheets against Bachchu and 146 others in 59 cases filed over embezzlement of Tk 2,265 crore.

The commission, however, did not implicate the then BASIC Bank board members, who were at the helm of the bank when the embezzlement took place between 2009 and 2013.

Between 2009 and 2013, Tk 4,500 crore was swindled out of BASIC, once a healthy public bank. Of the sum, more than 95 percent was sanctioned by the board.

In 2015, the ACC filed 56 cases in connection with the scam, but neither Bachchu nor any of the board members were named as accused although multiple probes indicated their involvement.