Businessman MNH Bulu seeks Tk 400m in damages from United Commercial Bank over ‘false charges’

MNH Bulu, chairman of BNS Group and publisher of the Daily Sangbad Pratidin, has sued United Commercial Bank, seeking Tk 400 million in damages for alleged defamation caused by a case started against him on “false charges”.

In the lawsuit filed with Dhaka’s First Joint District Judges Court on Tuesday, Bulu said a “certain quarter with vested interests” has been trying to defame him out of envy over his “success”.

The UCB, “Ill-advised by the quarter, initiated a case against Bulu at Banani Police Station on Mar 4, 2015, according to the lawsuit.

The UCB case identified Bulu as a nominee of an account opened by Amir Food Products. He later contacted the bank and confirmed that he had not been involved in the opening of the account.

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrates’ Court of Dhaka then acquitted him of the charges.

Following the UCB case, the Criminal Investigation Department of police filed another case against Bulu and alleged Tk 1.2 million was transferred to his account from Amir Food’s account, but no money was deposited in his account on that day, according to the defamation suit.

Bulu had been in jail for four months, which made him “physically and mentally devastated”. He suffered a heart attack on Dec 6, 2021 and cannot walk properly now, according to the lawsuit.

Bulu said he could not import raw materials when he was in jail, which ultimately led to the closure of all of his factories and job losses of hundreds of workers.

Besides these, he alleged, the case “immensely” damaged his social, corporate and business goodwill.