Premier Bank scam: ACC summons AL MP Haroon

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has summoned an Awami League lawmaker and also a director of Premier Bank at its office for quizzing over allegations of illegally amassing Tk 134 crore in collusion with some bank officials.

Bazlul Haque Haroon, the lawmaker from Jhalakathi-1 constituency, was asked to appear at ACC's office and give his statement in this regard on April 11, reads a letter issued by the ACC today.

Also read: Tk 134 crore vanishes

Haroon allegedly amassed Tk 134 crore through fake client signatures in collaboration with other bank high-ups, ACC said in the letter signed by Md Shamsul Alam, assistant director of the anti-graft watchdog.

The Premier Bank director also bought bank shares and other valuable properties through illegal means, according to the letter.  

Earlier in 2013, Bangladesh Bank launched an investigation into the allegations against Haroon.

A client of the bank, Khalilur Rahman, claimed that bank's then vice chairman BH Haroon, stole Tk 134 crore from his account in 2008 in collusion with some bank officials.

He then took the issue to the bank's top management that held a series of meetings with the parties involved. But those meetings failed to yield any result.

Khalilur then approached Bangladesh Bank, the finance ministry and the ACC.

BB found that the Premier Bank disbursed the money though the signature of the account holder and those on the cheques didn't match.

As the central bank found some "elements of corruption" in this case, it referred it to the ACC for further investigation.