No one knows the whereabouts of former BASIC Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu, also a former Jatiya Party (JaPa) lawmaker, who was recently charged in 59 cases involving the embezzlement of Tk2,265.68 crore through different means in collusion with his cohorts.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) officials think the accused is still in the country and trying to flee.
From 2009 to 2014, the charismatic financial scammer led a ring of looters and gobbled up the money through fraudulent mortgage transactions, overvaluation of mortgages, and receiving loans from BASIC Bank Ltd without mortgages.
Then-president of the JaPa district unit, Bachchu was elected a member of parliament from the Bagerhat-1 constituency in the 1986 general election. He also served as the chairman of Bagerhat Zilla Parishad from 1988-90.
Bachchu was appointed as the bank's chairman for three years in September 2009, although the industries secretary used to hold the post as per tradition. His appointment was extended for two more years despite a flood of news reports on his corruption. He resigned from the post two days before his tenure ended in July 2014 and has since remained traceless in the eyes of the law.
The ACC now wants to prevent Bachchu from going abroad, despite not knowing his whereabouts. The court has already imposed a ban on him from travelling abroad for 60 days and asked all the port authorities, including the immigration branch of the Special Branch of the police, to take necessary measures.
Apart from Bachchu, the ACC is also trying to track down 73 of the 147 accused in the 59 cases and prevent them from fleeing abroad.
On June 20, the director of ACC's Dhaka divisional office and investigation officer, Mohammad Morshed Alam, filed an application with the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court seeking a travel ban on Bachchu. Judge Asaduzzaman issued the 60-day ban in an order the next day.
Morshed Alam said in his application that a proper investigation of the case will be disturbed if the accused flees abroad. However, his present location was not mentioned in the ACC application.
Other ACC sources said Bachchu is in the country and they have learned the latest immigration information regarding Bachchu: he last went to Dubai on April 5 this year. From there, he went to Canada and then returned to Dhaka on June 8.
When asked about Bachchu's arrest and preventing him from fleeing abroad, ACC Commissioner (Investigation) Dr Mozammel Haque Khan said that they are continuing drives to bring Bachchu to justice.
"However, he will be able to avoid arrest if he goes to court on his own to surrender and face trial," he added.
