The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has pressed charges against Chowdhury Mustaque Ahmed, former managing director and CEO of Farmers Bank, and five others in a case filed over the embezzlement of Tk30 crore from the bank.
The other accused are, Layla Bansprati Products Limited Managing Director Shahabuddin Alam and Chairman Yeasmin Alam, former Farmers Bank audit committee chairman Mahbubul Haque Chisty, his son Rashedul Haque Chisty and former additional director of the bank AKM Shamim.
ACC Director (Public Relations Officer) Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune.
Among the accused, Mustaque Ahmed is now out on bail while Mahbubul Haque and his son Rashedul Haque are in jail. Shahabuddin and his wife Yeasmin are on the run.
ACC Deputy Director M Shamsul Alam, investigation officer (IO) of the case, on Saturday submitted the charge sheet in the case to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court. A total of 23 people were shown as prosecution witnesses.
The IO dropped the names of Farmers Bank Senior Vice President Ziauddin Ahmed and Delowar Hossain, former manager and SVP of the Gulshan corporate branch of Farmers Bank Ltd, as they have died.
The IO appealed to the court to issue arrest warrants for Shahabuddin and Yeasmin, as they were shown as fugitives in the charge sheet.
On October 28 last year, the ACC filed the case with Gulshan police station against seven people, including Mustaque Ahmed.
On December 19, 2017, Bangladesh Bank (BB) removed the managing director of Farmers Bank on charges of helping the bank’s board of directors engage in loan disbursement irregularities.
Farmers Bank was established in June 2013. In 2017, Bangladesh Bank's investigations found massive irregularities in the bank's loan disbursements, along with a large number of default loans.
The bank was renamed Padma Bank in February 2019, as its reputation had been tarnished by the irregularities.
On April 10, 2018, the ACC arrested former Farmers Bank audit committee chairman Mahbubul Haque Chisty in connection with embezzlement and irregularities in loan disbursement.
On December 11, 2019, the ACC approved five cases against Mahbubul Haque Chisty and his four family members for allegedly embezzling and amassing Tk135.4489 crore by misusing their authority.