The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has taken all necessary preparations to serve notices to the chairman of Ideal Cooperative Society Limited (ICSL) and its nine directors for their alleged involvement in laundering Tk3bn from at least 70,000 people, an ACC official told the Dhaka Tribune Wednesday.
“We have already reviewed some of the documents submitted by its managing director and prepared notices for ICL group high-ups. The notices will be served, asking them to appear before the commission for interrogation at the first week of September,” the official said.
He said the notices will be served to the Chairman M Rafiqul Alam, and directors M Khairul Islam, Kazi Shamsun Nahar Mina, Ashraful Islam, Sheikh Ahmed, SM Morshed Jewel, M Saifuzzaman, M Anisur Rahman, M Abul Hashem, and ATM Khorshed Alam.
Earlier, on June 4, a commission team interrogated ICL Managing Director HNM Shafiqur Rahman, where he admitted that there is no money at any of the bank accounts but the company owns some land.
Before the interrogation, Shafiqur was asked to bring a list of its cooperative’s clients, address of its Comilla office, details of its bank accounts and audit reports of the company from 2001 to 2012.
The corruption busting agency also asked ICL MD to submit all tax related documents, and documents related to bank accounts belonging to his wife, Quazi Shamsun Nahar Mina, who is also one of the directors of the group, as well as his son and two daughters.
It has been alleged that ICSL, a sister concern of the ICL Group had offered high interests to its depositors and swindled around Tk3bn, in violation of the cooperative’s rule.
Following complaints by the ICSL depositors about non-payments, Department of Cooperatives initiated an inquiry, where they suspected that senior officials of ICSL could have misappropriated around Tk3bn from its 70,000 clients.
When the cooperative department started its inquiry in February 25, the society stopped the operations of all its 33 branches in Dhaka, Narshingdi and Comilla.
