ACC quizzing ex-BASIC Bank chairman Bachchu

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is interrogating former BASIC Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu for the fifth time in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the state-run bank.

A team, led by ACC officials Syed Iqbal Hossain, began the interrogation around 10am on Wednesday at the commission's Segunbagicha headquarters in Dhaka.

The commission’s Public Relations Officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee confirmed the matter to the Dhaka Tribune.

Bacchu was supposed to appear before the commission on May 15 but did not show up, citing health issues, and appealed for a two-month delay. But the commission rejected his appeal and set his new appointment for May 30. 

On December 4, 2017, when the ACC first interrogated him, Bachchu had claimed he was innocent.

According to the inquiry by Bangladesh Bank, Bachchu is accused of embezzling about Tk4,500 crore from BASIC Bank over the six years he served as chair.

In September 2015, the ACC filed 54 cases with three police stations in Dhaka accusing 156 individuals, including 26 bank officials, of corruption.

On July 5, 2014, Bachchu tendered his resignation to Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Bangladesh Bank’s advice, after the investigation found irregularities in approving around Tk4,500 crore in loans from four branches of Basic Bank between December 2009 and November 2012.

Earlier, BASIC Bank directors Md Anwarul Islam, Anis Ahmad, Quamrun Naher Ahmed, Prof Kazi Akhtar Hossain, Shakhawat Hossain, Fakhrul Islam, AKM Kamrul Islam, Jahangir Akhand Salim, Shyam Sunder Sikder, and AKM Rezaur Rahman were also interrogated.