ACC boss refutes Tk 230m financial felony charges

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FE Report
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) chairman, Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury, brushed aside Sunday the allegation of money-laundering that cost a military-owned bank nearly Tk 230 million.
The anti-graft watchdog chief is facing the allegation of financial felony after Mahmudur Rahman, a former energy adviser, on Saturday brought charges against Mr Chowdhury with money-laundering through misappropriation of Tk 229 million from Trust Bank Limited.
Mr Rahman, also chairman of Amar Desh Publications, tried to file a case on the day, but officers-in-charge of Motijheel and Ramna in two police stations declined to accept the case.
Analysing the bank's annual audit report of Hoda Vasi Chowdhury & Co, Mr Rahman said the bank incurred loss worth Tk229.63 million on foreign currency dealings in 2002, but it showed no relevant report of the previous year.
"This proves that Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury, then army chief and chairman of the bank, along with other bank staffers drained that money out of the country," he said in his compliant paper.
"I want to state clearly that the allegations brought against me are not at all true, acceptable," the ACC chief said at a press conference at his office.
Mr Chowdhury, however, admitted that the bank, of which he was the chairman in 2002, racked up losses of more than Tk 200 million due to foreign exchange dealings.
"I can't say about the amount that was lost. But the losses were incurred," he told reporters.
"The incident was published in different national dailies at the time and the bank took corrective measures as per the instruction of Bangladesh Bank," the ACC chairman said.
He said that the bank's management identified the "persons responsible for the faults", and took disciplinary action against the culprits. "Two cases are still pending."