Former BASIC Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu, who was recently interrogated by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over a loan scam, made huge amounts of cash transactions in the span of a few months through a bank account of a company that has never existed.
These suspicious transactions by Bachchu were revealed in an investigative report of Jamuna TV on Tuesday.
On December 4, when interrogated by the national anti-graft watchdog over the Tk5,000 crore loan scam, Bachchu denied being involved in this and said the allegations brought against him were yet to be proven.
According to the Jamuna TV report Bachchu opened a business under the name of Eden Fisheries Ltd on December 13, 2010. According to documents at the Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, four directors of the so-called company are Bachchu, his wife and two sons, and it is located in Jahan Plaza at Segunbachia of Dhaka.
However, the Jamuna TV investigation found that no such company had ever existed at the given address.
There was no office of such company in my building. And I never heard of Eden Fisheries Ltd, the owner of Jahan Plaza, Jahangir Alam, is quoted as saying.
By using fake documents, Bachchu opened an account at the Motijheel branch of Standard Chartered Bank, through which he transacted over Tk30 crore in a few months, including Tk9 crore in a day.
The unusually large amounts of cash transactions by the former chairman of BASIC Bank took many by surprise, and they said the money is possibly tied to the money embezzled from the bank when Bachchu served as its chairman.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, is quoted as saying: “The transaction of such a large amount of money within a few months is not a normal phenomenon. The authorities of the bank, through which the transactions were made, should have scrutinized the matter. Also, Bangladesh Bank, ACC, and the National Board of Revenue should have conducted a thorough scrutiny in this regard.”
Asked, Jesmin Razzak, manager of the Motijheel branch of Standard Chartered Bank, declined to make any comment.
“We cannot comment on the matter, because we have no authority to do so. Only the corporate affairs department of our bank can discuss and comment on the issue,” she told the Jamuna TV.
According to the Jamuna TV report Bachchu opened a business under the name of Eden Fisheries Ltd on December 13, 2010. According to documents at the Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, four directors of the so-called company are Bachchu, his wife and two sons, and it is located in Jahan Plaza at Segunbachia of Dhaka.
However, the Jamuna TV investigation found that no such company had ever existed at the given address.
There was no office of such company in my building. And I never heard of Eden Fisheries Ltd, the owner of Jahan Plaza, Jahangir Alam, is quoted as saying.
By using fake documents, Bachchu opened an account at the Motijheel branch of Standard Chartered Bank, through which he transacted over Tk30 crore in a few months, including Tk9 crore in a day.
The unusually large amounts of cash transactions by the former chairman of BASIC Bank took many by surprise, and they said the money is possibly tied to the money embezzled from the bank when Bachchu served as its chairman.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, is quoted as saying: “The transaction of such a large amount of money within a few months is not a normal phenomenon. The authorities of the bank, through which the transactions were made, should have scrutinized the matter. Also, Bangladesh Bank, ACC, and the National Board of Revenue should have conducted a thorough scrutiny in this regard.”
Asked, Jesmin Razzak, manager of the Motijheel branch of Standard Chartered Bank, declined to make any comment.
“We cannot comment on the matter, because we have no authority to do so. Only the corporate affairs department of our bank can discuss and comment on the issue,” she told the Jamuna TV.