ACC begins probe against two Standard Asiatic Oil Co officials

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) launched on Sunday a probe into alleged misappropriation of Tk 570 million by a director and the company secretary of Standard Asiatic Oil Company Ltd. (SAOCL), an enterprise of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).

Earlier, the ACC received a complaint that Moinuddin Ahmed, a member of the board of directors of SAOCL, and Mohammed Shahed, the company secretary, illegally transferred SAOCL funds to their personal accounts.

The commission, in its preliminary investigation, found that Mr Moinuddin transferred Tk 430 million from the bank accounts of SAOCL to the accounts of Pyramid EXIM Ltd., owned by his wife, in the last three years while Mr Shahed transferred Tk 140 million to privately-owned Goodwin Ltd.

Acting on the complaint received through hotline-106, an ACC team comprising its deputy directors SM Shahidur Rahman and Md Mahmudur Rahman found the preliminary evidence of graft while scrutinising the bank accounts of the two accused in seven banks.

ACC Director General and Chief Coordinator of enforcement teams Muhammad Munir Chowdhury said, "There is no scope to transfer government organisation's money to any personal accounts."

The commission will take legal action against the persons responsible after carrying out the full investigation, he added.

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