ACC grills Mercantile Bank MD over Tk 20 million ‘swindle’

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has interrogated Mercantile Bank Managing Director Mohammad Ehsanul Haque over alleged siphoning of around Tk 20 million from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund into a director’s pocket.

ACC Deputy Assistant Director Cynthia Ferdous conducted the interrogation at its office at Segunbagicha in Dhaka on Wednesday, according to its Public Relations Officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya.

Another ACC official, who sought to be anonymous, said Aman Ullah, a director of the bank, allegedly swindled Tk 19.996 million from the bank’s CSR fund to his Aman Group Foundation on Apr 2 and 3 in 2014, when Ehsanul was at the office.

Aman Ullah is also a former chairman of the bank.

The official said an investigation into the matter by Bangladesh Bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit found Aman’s foundation had no property before the alleged fraud.

ACC had recently been given the charge to investigate the alleged swindle, he added.