B Mirror Report:  The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has given final approval to file a case against a total of 31 individuals, including members of the influential Sikder family and a director of the Maisha Group, on charges of embezzling a large sum of money from the Dilkusha branch of National Bank, a stock market listed bank.

The decision was announced on Monday (22 December) by the Commission’s Director General, Md. Akhtar Hossain. ACC Deputy Director Afroza Haq Khan will soon file the case as the complainant. The accused are alleged to have taken loans worth hundreds of crores of taka in the names of non-existent, paper-based companies using forged documents and then laundered the funds.

The ACC has found direct collusion by top officials of National Bank in this loan fraud. The investigation revealed that funds were disbursed from the bank’s head office using a shell and non-existent company named Manha Precast Technology Ltd. as a front.

Those named as accused include Manowara Sikder, wife of the late Zainul Haq Sikder; his daughter Parveen Haq Sikder; and his two sons, Ron Haq Sikder and Rik Haq Sikder. This influential family had long served as the controlling authority of National Bank.

One of the main beneficiaries of the fraud is alleged to be Maksuda Haq, wife of the late Aslamul Haq, a director of the Maisha Group and former Member of Parliament. In addition to business figures and directors, several senior bank officials have also been named in the case for their alleged involvement in the plundering, including former Managing Directors (MDs) Chowdhury Mostak Ahmed and M. A. Wadud, and former Additional Managing Director (AMD) A. S. M. Bulbul. Directors and the CEO of the concerned shell company have also been included as accused.

According to the ACC’s investigation report, the then board of directors and bank management abused their power by using this shadow company primarily to settle the liabilities of another name-only entity called Smart Battery Technology Ltd.

Of the approved loans, BDT 647 crore and 68 lakh were not used for any genuine business purposes but were instead transferred and laundered through pay orders to various destinations. This large-scale plundering of ordinary depositors’ money through abuse of power is now set to face legal proceedings.