The Bangladesh Bank has asked the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to take action against BASIC Bank's former board members for their alleged involvement in the loan disbursement scam.
It sent a letter yesterday in this connection including a detailed investigation report on Gulshan and Dilkusha branches of the BASIC Bank and an observation report to the ACC.
The letter said Bangladesh Bank earlier sent a special investigation report on Gulshan, Shantinagar and Dilkusha branches of the BASIC Bank to the ACC. But the central bank has not yet been informed about the action the ACC took.
“We have sent the letter and detailed investigation to the ACC requesting information about the progress of the ACC,” said Bangladesh Bank Executive Director SM Moniruzzaman.
He said: “We are ready to provide all kinds of support to the ACC in this connection. We requested it to take action as the central bank has some limitations in this regard.”
The amount of total disbursed loan of the BASIC Bank stood at Tk11,180 crore in March this year and of which Tk6,900 crore had been disbursed through the three branches.
The commission suspended its inquiry soon after the Bangladesh Bank signed a memorandum of understanding with the BASIC Bank last year with a view to recovering financial health of the state-owned bank.
However, the central bank claims that there is no relationship between the ACC inquiry and the MoU. Rather Bangladesh Bank is relying on the ACC investigation to take action against the former BASIC Bank chairman. The commission initiated an inquiry last year but it is yet to make any visible progress.
BASIC Bank MD Faqurul Islam was sacked on May 26 while chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu resigned on July 4 following the allegation of financial irregularities of Tk4,500 crore.
However, no action has so far been taken against the former chairman and former managing director.
The government appointed Alauddin A Majid as new chairman of BASIC Bank after the resignation of the former chairman.
