ACC summons Morshed Khan over Citycell loan embezzlement

The Anti-Corruption Commission has summoned BNP leader and former Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan for questioning in connection with a case over embezzling Tk 3.5 billion borrowed from banks by Citycell.

Investigation officer and ACC Deputy Director Md Shamsul Alam sent a notice to Khan on Friday instructing him to be present at the ACC offices in Segunbagicha on Sept 18.

Morshed Khan’s son has also been summoned in connection with another case and has been instructed to appear on Sept 20, ACC Public Relations Officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told bdnews24.com.

Faisal Morshed Khan has been summoned over a 2013 case of money laundering filed at the Gulshan Police Station. ACC Deputy Director Mirza Zahidul Alam is the investigation officer.

A total of 16 people, including Morshed Khan’s wife Nasreen Khan and Citycell MD Mehboob Chowdhury were accused in the loan embezzlement case filed on Jun 28, 2017 with Banani Police Station.

M Morshed Khan

Pacific Telecom Bangladesh Limited owns the largest stake in Citycell, which was shut down in 2016 due to an inability to pay dues. BNP Vice Chairman Morshed Khan is the organisation’s chairman, while his wife is a director.

Morshed Khan’s Pacific Motors Limited also has a one-third stake in Citycell.

The case accuses the suspects of embezzling Tk 3.5 billion borrowed for Citycell from AB Bank.

Morshed Khan was the chairman of AB Bank.

Citycell was the first mobile phone operator in Bangladesh.

In 1993, after Pacific Motors came to own Citycell, Morshed Khan became a special envoy to the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and acted as her investment affairs adviser. During the reign of HM Ershad, when Citycell received its licence, Khan had been the treasurer.

During the BNP rule, Citycell had a monopoly on the mobile phone business. It slowly lost its dominance in the market after the Awami League came to power in 1996 and gave licences to other operators.

Citycell struggled to maintain its market position and never recovered, not even when Singapore’s Singtel invested in the company in 2004.