​Bring Basic Bank ex-chair Bacchu to book, HC asks ACC again

The High Court has reiterated its earlier directive on the Anti-Corruption Commission to bring Basic Bank’s former chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu and its three top officials to book in connection with loan scam.

“Thus, we direct the Anti-Corruption Commission to bring the members of the board of directors, it’s chairman and managing director, who approved the alleged loan despite the objection raised by the credit committee in sanctioning loan in favour of the loanees, to book," the HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim said.

"We also directed to complete the investigation within a period of 60(sixty) working days from the date of receipt of this order,” they said.

The bench came up with directive in the full text of its verdict on a bail petition filed by Fazlus Sobhan, former deputy managing director of Basic Bank, in connection with a loan scam case. The full text of the verdict was released today after the judges signed it.

The judges have delivered the verdict on May 31 granting bail to Fazlus Sobhan in the case filed by the ACC with Motijheel Police Station on September 21, 2015.

It has been stated in the case statement that the chairman and managing director of M/S Barsa Agro Industries Ltd respectively, in between June 28, 2012 and June 30, 2015 managed to get a loan of Taka 44,31,68,000/- from Basic Bank in an unusual manner and ultimately they misappropriated the said money.

The other accused including Fazlus Sobhan, who was the chairman of credit committee and loan disbursement committee actively aided the accused persons to get the loan sanctioned as well as to misappropriate the loan money, the case statement added.

On May 31, the HC bench has granted bail to Fazlus Sobhan in total six cases including this one in connection with the Basic Bank loan scam.

In the full text of the verdict, the HC said the ACC has utterly failed to comply with and to pay due regard to its observations in connection with Basic Bank loan scam which tantamount to demeaning and flouting the orders of the court.

“Despite above observations of this court, we still do not find any tangible progress in the investigation of the cases regarding the loan scam of Basic Bank.

Thus, we are constrained to hold that the Anti-Corruption Commission being a statutory body has utterly failed to comply with and to pay due regard to the observations made by the Highest Court of the country which tantamount to demeaning and flouting the orders of the Court,” the judges said in the full text of the verdict.

“In view of the above assertions made in the FIR, we are constrained to hold that prima facie the members of the board of directors, its chairman and managing director of the bank actively aided and facilitated the other accused in misappropriating the huge amount of public money and as such in the interestof fair investigation and justice they should be brought to book”, the HC said in the full text of the verdict.

The ACC on May 30 quizzed former BASIC Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu over Tk 4,500-crore loan scams. Though he was chairing the bank during the entire loan scam period, Bacchu does not stand accused in any of the cases filed over the incident.