BASIC Bank scam: ACC files 18 cases

-- Tk 650 crore BASIC Bank loan scam

-- ACC files 18 cases with three Dhaka police stations

-- Ex-MD Fakhrul Islam accused in most of the cases

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) today filed a total of 18 cases with three police stations in Dhaka in connection with alleged irregularities and corruption at BASIC Bank.

Former managing director of the state-run bank Fakhrul Islam has been accused in most of the cases filed for swindling of over Tk 650 crore.

Besides, chairmen and managing director of 18 companies and several officials of the bank have been accused in the cases.

Among the cases, eight were filed with Gulshan Police Station, five each with Motijheel and Paltan police stations, reports Bangla daily Prothom Alo.

The number of defendants is 153, but many of them are accused in multiple cases.

On July 14, 2014, Bangladesh Bank sent a report on the BASIC Bank scam to the ACC, detailing how borrowers embezzled money from the bank through fake companies and suspected accounts.

The report mentioned that Dilkusha branch doled out Tk 683 crore in loans to 16 borrowers, all of whom took the money through illegal means. In Gulshan branch, 12 clients took out Tk 297 crore through pay orders or in cash.

The report also contained a list of 40 pay orders that were transferred from a number of loan accounts at Shantinagar branch to suspected accounts in the same branch in 2012. Each pay order transferred funds between Tk 50 lakh and Tk 1 crore.