Anti-graft body grills Bachchu

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) interrogated former BASIC Bank Chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu on Thursday for the fourth time over Tk 35 billion loan fraud from the bank.

The former banker arrived at the ACC headquarters in the city's Segunbagicha area at around 9:45 am, as the commission summoned him through a letter on March 06.

A team, headed by ACC director Syed Iqbal Hossain, questioned Bachchu from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm, said ACC public relations official Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee.

The national anti-graft agency interrogated Mr Bachchu over the loan scam on December 4 for the first time, second time on December 06, and  January 08 for the third time.

ACC launched the investigation following allegations that around Tk 35 billion in loans had been illegally disbursed from BASIC Bank's Gulshan, Dilkusha and Shantinagar branches in the capital between 2009 and 2011.

The bank allegedly provided the loans without collateral as well as using false documents and fictitious names and organisations in violation of rules and regulations.

After nearly four years of investigation, the anti-graft body filed 56 cases with three police stations in Dhaka in 2015, accusing 156 individuals, including 26 bank officials.

However, Mr Bachchu was not accused in any of the cases filed by the commission so far.

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