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Published : 03 Feb 2025, 05:16 PM
The Dhaka Special Judge Court No.1 has ordered a further investigation into 14 of the 59 cases filed against Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu and others on charges of embezzling and laundering Tk 22.65 billion from state-owned BASIC Bank through fraudulent loans.
Judge Md Abul Kashem of the Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-1 issued the order “spontaneously”, according to Rajib Dey, the bench assistant for the court.
He told bdnews24.com that one of the 14 cases had reached the trial stage, while the other 13 are at the indictment stage.
“The accused in these cases, Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu and his family members, are absconding. The court has directed the Anti-Corruption Commission to conduct a reinvestigation.”
In September 2015, the Anti-Corruption Commission, or ACC, filed 59 cases over the embezzlement and laundering of Tk 22.65 billion from BASIC Bank through fraudulent loans. The bank’s former chairman, Bacchu, was not named as a defendant in any of the cases.
Yet, allegations persisted that he was the central figure behind the bank’s decline, transforming a once-strong state-owned institution into a fragile entity.
After nearly seven years of investigation, the ACC submitted chargesheets in 59 cases in June 2023, naming Bacchu in 58 of them.
The charge sheets listed 46 bank officials and 101 customers as defendants. However, none of the bank’s board members were accused in any of the cases.
On Nov 5, 2024, Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court Judge Jakir Hossain ordered Bacchu, and four of his family members to appear in court by Jan 2. The directive came in a case filed by the ACC over the embezzlement and laundering of Tk 9.5 billion from the bank.
The four family members—his wife Shirin Akhter, his brother Sheikh Shahriar Panna, and his sons Sheikh Rafa Hye and Sheikh Sabit Hye Anik— are absconding.
