Seven former MDs of mining company among 23 to be charged over Tk 2.43bn coal scam

The Anti-Corruption Commission is charging 23 people, including seven former managing directors of Barapukuria mining company, over alleged embezzlement of about 144,000 tonnes coal.

The investigation officer, ACC Deputy Director Shamsul Alam, submitted the charge-sheet at their Dinajpur office on Sunday, the commission’s spokesman Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told bdnews24.com.

The investigation found evidence that the 23 were involved in embezzlement of coal worth over Tk 2.43 billion.

They include 14 named in the case while five others were found innocent, according to Pranab.

The seven former MDs of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited named in the charge-sheet are Md Mahbubur Rahman, Mad Abdul Aziz Khan, Khurshidul Hasan, Qamruzzaman, Md Aminuzzaman, SM Nurul Awrangazeb, and Habib Uddin Ahmed.

Those named in the charge-sheet are former general managers Md Shariful Alam, Md Abul Qasem Prodhania, Abu Taher Md Nur-uz-Zaman Chowdhury, deputy general manager Md Zobayer Ali, managers Masudur Rahman Howlader, Md Arifur Rahman, Syed Iman Hasan, Md Shoyebur Rahman, Ashok Kumar Halder deputy managers Muhammad Kholilur Rahman, Md Morsheduzzaman, Md Habibur Rahman, Md Jahedur Rahman, AKM Khaledul Islam, and assistant managers Satyendranath Barman, and Md Moniuruzzaman.

The embezzlement of the coal took place between January, 2006 and July, 2018, according to the investigation.

The accused officials allegedly sold the coal at Tk 2.3 billion in open market through abuse of power, fraud, irregularities and other types of corruption, according to the charges.

The ACC initiated the case and put a travel ban on the accused and two other people as part of investigating after the disappearance of the coal forced a halt to operations at the nearby coal-fired Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant in July last year.

The shutdown led to power cuts and shortage of voltage in swathes of the northern region.