Dhaka: The ACC today filed a case against 16 people including the chairman of Bashundhara Group Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, his two sons, and 13 officials of National Bank Ltd (NBL) for embezzling money and its laundering. Director General (Investigation) of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Md. Akhtar Hossain disclosed this during its regular briefing at the commission headquarters here. The case was filed by Deputy Director (DD) of the commission’s headquarters Md. Jahangir Alam as the complainant, he said.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the accused individuals collaborated to approve and disburse loans totaling Taka 1,350 crore in the name of Bashundhara Import and Export Ltd. This was done in violation of the rules of the National Bank and Bangladesh Bank. The loans were sanctioned based on false financial statements without adequate collateral, stock reports, inspection reports, credit ratings, or verification of the borrower’s actual repayment capacity. They also deliberately ignored the borrower’s existing liabilities of Taka 629.16 crore with other banks.
Furthermore, although the borrower was part of the Bashundhara Group, they were represented as a separate group to approve the loan beyond the single borrower exposure limit. The ACC further revealed that Taka 600 crore of the funded loans was not utilized for legitimate purposes. Instead, the accused transferred the funds to the accounts of various related entities and withdrew cash, thereby embezzling the money and engaging in money laundering to conceal its source and ownership.
For these offenses, a case has been filed against them under Sections 420, 409, and 109 of the Penal Code, section 5(2) of the Anti-Corruption Act, 1947, and sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012.