HC blasts BPC over Tk 472cr irregularity

The High Court yesterday blasted Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) for not taking any effective action against its subsidiary, Standard Asiatic Oil Company (SAOC), regarding irregularities involving over Tk 472 crore.

"Tk 470 crore from Standard Asiatic Oil Company has been embezzled and laundered. But there is no effective action in this regard. Is Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation in a slumber?" said the HC bench of Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat Lizu while hearing of a suo moto (voluntary) rule on this issue.

BPC's lawyers, Mohammad Mezbah Uddin and Md Abdus Samad Azad, replied that Mohammad Shaed, a former managing director of SAOC, is the mastermind behind the misappropriation and laundering, but he died during the pandemic.

They also said BPC has formed a committee to conduct an inquiry into financial anomalies in SAOC and sought time for placing updates before the court.

Yesterday, the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) office submitted a compliance report through Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik, saying that the report published on The Daily Star on November 4 last year under the headline "A BPC concern robs state coffers of Tk 472.7cr" is authentic.

The HC bench asked BPC and ACC to submit their progress reports on this matter to this court by January 29.

On November 30 last year, the bench directed BPC and CAG to submit separate reports on actions taken against SAOC regarding the irregularities. Following The Daily Star report, the HC on November 6 last year issued the rule asking BPC and CAG to explain what actions were taken against SAOC.