ACC prosecutes ex-BNP minister Morshed Khan in Tk 3.5bn embezzlement case

The Anti Corruption Commission has prosecuted former foreign minister M Morshed Khan on charges of embezzling around Tk 3.5 billion taken in bank loans for Citycell shut out from telecom market for failing to pay dues.

The BNP vice-chairman's wife Nasrin Khan, Citycell Chief Executive Mehboob Chowdhury and AB Bank's Managing Director Moshiur Rahman Chowdhury are among 15 others accused in the ACC case started at Banani Police Station on Wednesday.

ACC Deputy Director Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told bdnews24.com they have been accused of embezzling Tk 3.485 billion as loans from eight banks and financial institutions for Citycell with AB Bank as the guarantor.

The other accused are current and former officials of the bank and Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited. Citycell is the brand name of the company.

Morshed Khan is Chairman of Pacific Telecom and his wife Nasrin is a director. Mehboob Chowdhury is its CEO too. The firm's Vice Chairman Asghar Karim is also among the accused.

The accused persons also include AB Bank former managing directors Kaiser A Chowdhury and Shamim Ahmed Chaudhury.

According to the case dossier, the loans were given from 2011 to 2015 'wrongly on dishonest purpose for financial benefit through fraud, corruption and misuse of power'. AB Bank officials helped Pacific Telecom officials embezzle the money, it said.    

Bangladesh's first mobile phone operator Citycell was closed last year for its failure to pay up Tk 4.77 billion in government dues.

In 1989, a licence to operate wireless telecom services in the county was issued to Bangladesh Telecom Ltd (BTL). Investments from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunication Ltd came the next year and the company was then re-christened as Hutchison Bangladesh Telecom Ltd (HBTL).

In 1993, HBTL launched mobile phone service in Bangladesh. In December the same year, the company changed hands. The then foreign minister Morshed Khan-owned Pacific Motors and Far East Telecom bought HBTL's shares and it was renamed Pacific Bangladesh Telecom, with the brand name of Citycell.

In 2004, Singapore-based SingTel Asia Pacific Investments Pte Limited pumped money into the firm. Morshed Khan made a huge profit by selling a large portion of his Pacific Motors stakes in Citycell to SingTel at that time.

According to latest data published on the Citycell website, Pacific Motors has 37.95 percent share of Citycell, SingTel 45 percent and Far East Telecom 17.51 percent.