ACC formally charges former Bangladesh chief justice SK Sinha with ‘loan fraud’

The Anti-Corruption Commission has formally charged in court former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others in a case that involves Tk 40 million in suspicious loans from The Farmers Bank.

ACC official Benazir Ahmed submitted the charges to the court of Dhaka’s Senior Special Judge KM Imrul Kayes on Monday, the court’s General Recording Official Md Zulfiker told bdnews24.com on Tuesday.

The 10 others accused in the case include KM Shamim, former managing director of Farmers Bank, renamed Padma Bank, its former senior executive vice president Gazi Salauddin, first vice president Swapon Kumar Ray, first vice president Shafiuddin Askary, vice president Lutful Haque, Tangail residents Md Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, Ranajit Chandra Saha and his wife Shanti Ray.

File Photo

Md Ziauddin Ahmed, a former manager of the bank’s Gulshan branch, had been accused in the case initially but the investigator dropped charges against him.

Mahbubul Haque Chishti alias Babul Chishti, a former chairman of the bank’s audit committee, has been included in the charge-sheet.

The accused illegally created fake loans, transferred the money to different bank accounts and withdrew it in cash and through pay-orders before smuggling it secretly, according to the charges.

They abused power in collusion to achieve dishonest goals to influence the lending procedure for their own and others’ benefits, the charge-sheet adds.

The commission found “evidence” of fraud involving transactions of Tk 40 million borrowed by two so-called businessmen, Shahjahan and Niranjan, from the bank, ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood had said earlier.

The national antigraft agency later launched an investigation into allegations that the fund was deposited into Sinha’s bank account, credited as the proceeds of the sale of his house.

Sinha came under fire from the ruling Awami League over the verdict on the 16th amendment to the constitution and went on leave in October 2017.

Later, he became the first chief justice of the country to quit when he submitted his resignation from overseas, 81 days before the end of his term.

After his resignation, the Supreme Court said in a rare statement that Sinha had been facing 11 specific charges, including corruption, money laundering, financial irregularities and moral blunder.