ACC files cases against Jatiya Party leader, lawmaker wife

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lodged two separate cases against five people on Wednesday, including Jatiya Party (Ershad) vice president Morshed Murad Ibrahim and his wife parliament member (reserve seat-45) Mahjabeen Morshed for misappropriating Tk 2.75 billion from BASIC Bank Ltd.

Mr Ibrahim is also the managing director (MD) of Crystal Steel and Ship Breaking Ltd as well as a former president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).

The first case was filed against Mr Ibrahim and A K M Sajedur Rahman, former MD of BASIC Bank, for their alleged connection in embezzling Tk 1,349,366,185 from the state-owned bank.

According to the case statement, Mr Ibrahim took the money as loan without proper collateral and in collusion with Mr Rahman.

The Tk 1.34-billion loan was taken against a land worth Tk 17.78 million and a fixed deposit receipt (FDR) of Tk 10 million only, said ACC public relations official Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee.

The second case was filed against Mahjabeen Morshed, managing director of Khatunganj-based IG Navigation Ltd, its director Syed Mozaffar Hossain, and former BASIC Bank MD Kazi Fakhrul Islam for their alleged involvement in embezzling Tk 1,410,546,105 from the bank.

The money was taken as loan to open letters of credit (LCs) from 2010, but it was never paid back in time. Besides, the loan was taken without any collateral.

ACC headquarters assistant director Mohammad Sirajul Haque filed both the cases with Double Mooring Police Station in Chittagong under Sections 409 and 420 of the Penal Code and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1947 respectively.

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