Farmers Bank scam: ACC files case against 6 accused

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has lodged a case against Farmers Bank Limited (FBL) Audit Committee's former chairman Mahbubul Haque Chisty and his 5 associates for amassing illegal wealth.

ACC Deputy Assistant Director (Special Inquiry-1) Mohammad Shahjahan Miraz filed the case with its integrated district on Tuesday.

The accused allegedly embezzled and amassed over Tk63 crore by misusing their power.

ACC spokesperson Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya said the anti-graft body approved the case during its regular meeting earlier on Tuesday.

The other five accused are Chisty's son Rashedul Haque Chisty, former executive vice president of the bank Mohammad Jahangir Alam Majumdar, Al-Faruk Bags Limited's Managing Director Redwanul Kabir Chowdhury, Chairman Chowhdury Al-Faruk, and Director Nimmi Kabir Chowdhury.

On April 10, 2018, ACC arrested the Farmers Bank's former chairman of the Audit Committee Mahbubul Haque Chisty in connection with the embezzlement and irregularities in loan disbursement.

On December 11, 2019, ACC approved five cases against Farmers Bank Limited (FBL) audit committee's former chairman Mahbubul Haque Chisty and his four family members for allegedly embezzling and amassing Tk135.4489 crore by misusing their authority.

On December 19, 2017, Bangladesh Bank (BB) removed the managing director of Farmers Bank on charges of helping the bank’s board of directors engage in loan disbursement irregularities.

The Farmers Bank was established in June 2013, while Bangladesh Bank's investigations found massive irregularities in the bank's loan disbursement, along with a large number of default loans in 2017.

Following the scandal, the bank was renamed to Padma Bank in February 2019 to recover its image tarnished by irregularities and loan scams.