ACC summons Awami League MP BH Haroon for questioning on Premier Bank embezzlement charges

The Anti-Corruption Commission or ACC has summoned Bazlul Haque Haroon MP for questioning on charges of embezzling Tk 1.34 billion from Premier Bank.

The national anti-graft agency sent the summons to Haroon on Tuesday, ACC Deputy Director Shamsul Alam, who is heading the investigation into the allegation against the ruling Awami League MP, told bdnews24.com.

“We need BH Haroon’s statement on the allegation. So we’ve sent a letter asking him to be present at the ACC headquarters on Apr 11,” Shamsul said.

Businessman Khalilur Rahman, who is the owner of M/S Rumi Enterprise, a customer of Premier Bank, accused Haroon, a director of the bank, of embezzling Tk 1.34 billion.

In the complaint filed with the ACC in 2016, Khalilur alleged the Jhalakathi-1 MP siphoned off the money from his organisation’s account with the help of the bank officials.

The ACC launched an investigation into the allegation in July that year. The other official in the ACC investigation team is its Assistant Director Gulshan Anwar Prodhan.

Khalilur had also filed a complaint with the Bangladesh Bank on the same allegation.

According to the complaint, Rumi Enterprise secured a Tk 2.04 billion job to build 15,000 houses with funds from Saudi Arabia for the victims of cyclone Sidr in 2008.

When the work to build the houses was under way, he withdrew Tk 700 million from the account where the funds had been deposited.

When Khalilur went to withdraw the remaining Tk 1.34 billion, the then manager of the bank’s Bangshal Branch Shamsuddin Chowdhury told him that Khalilur had already withdrawn the money and the account had been closed, according to the complaint.

The ACC sent notices to the bank thrice, seeking related papers for the investigation.

As the bank did not provide all the papers, the ACC warned the bank that it would act against it.