The money laundering case trial of former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others, began with the deposition of the plaintiff at a Dhaka court on Tuesday.
Judge Shaikh Nazmul Alam of the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4, recorded the statement of the complainant and Anti-Corruption Commission Director, Syed Iqbal Hossain.
The court also set August 25 for the next hearing.
Four of the accused -- former Farmers Bank Ltd first vice-president Swapan Kumar Roy, vice-president M Lutful Haque, M Shahjahan, and Niranjan Chandra Saha, were granted bail after they surrendered to the court in the case.
SK Sinha and three others are on the run.
In his statement, the witness told the court that during his inquiry he found that two persons -- M Shahjahan and Niranjan Chandra Saha -- opened two current accounts at the Gulshan corporate branch of Farmers Bank Ltd on November 6, 2016.
In the applications, they used addresses in Uttara residential area that belong to SK Sinha.
The following day, they submitted two separate applications for sanctioning a Tk 4 crore loan. Soon after getting the applications, the then branch manager and others, without scrutinizing the applications, signed their approval and the same day forwarded the sanction letters to the principal office for the next course of action.
Also Read - Former chief justice SK Sinha, 10 others indicted in money laundering, embezzlement case
On November 8, 2016, the principal officer, violating bank rules and regulations, issued two pay orders worth Tk 4 crore in the name of M Shahjahan and Niranjan Chandra Saha for their current accounts.
On November 9 the same year, the amount was deposited to a savings account of SK Sinha at the Supreme Court branch of Sonali Bank Ltd.
Subsequently, SK Sinha withdrew the money in cash and through pay orders on different dates, transferred the money to various places.
The bank officials, in collusion with others accused, sanctioned the loan even though they had no power to do so by themselves, said the ACC official.
The complainant also said that Shahjahan and Niranjan are extremely poor and do not have the ability to run any business, even though they introduced themselves as businessmen.
The accused also submitted a deed for a 32 decimal property of Sashtri Roy situated in Savar, which does not fulfil the terms and conditions of bank rules.
Later, defence lawyers for the seven accused cross-examined the prosecution witness.
Earlier on August 13, the same court framed charges against SK Sinha and 10 others in the graft case.
On December 10 last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission submitted a charge sheet against 11 persons in connection with the case.
SK Sinha resigned as chief justice while abroad on November 11, 2017. He is now in the US.
