ACC sues 115, including ex-land minister's family members, over Tk56cr embezzlement

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed eight separate cases against 115 individuals, including two brothers and a sister of former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, on charges of embezzling Tk56.15 crore by taking loans in the names of fake businessmen.

According to ACC sources, national identity cards of day labourers, farmers, players, salon workers, and auto-rickshaw drivers were used to create false identities for the purported businessmen.

The ACC's Chattogram Integrated District Office-1 filed the cases on Monday against 115 people, including former directors, senior officials, and employees of a bank.

The accused are alleged to have embezzled Tk56.15 crore by opening bank accounts in the names of non-existent organisations, securing loans, and later laundering the money abroad.

The cases were confirmed by Subel Ahmed, deputy director of the ACC's Chattogram Integrated District Office-1. 

The fraudulent activities reportedly took place at the Chawkbazar, Pahartali, and Export Processing Zone (EPZ) branches of United Commercial Bank PLC (UCB) in Chattogram.

Among the accused in all eight cases is Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, the younger brother of former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. His other brother, Asifuzzaman Chowdhury, has been implicated in seven cases, while his sister, Roksana Zaman Chowdhury, is named in three cases. Former UCB director Bashir Ahmed has also been accused in seven cases.

Several officials and employees from different branches of UCB are also facing charges. According to the ACC, current accounts of eight fictitious companies—Asia Enterprise, Moon Enterprise, Islam Enterprise, Sun-Sign Enterprise, Alam Enterprise, Jupiter Enterprise, Nazim and Sons, and Al-Razi Enterprise—were opened at UCB's Chawkbazar, Port, Pahartali, and Bahaddarhat branches in Chattogram.

Investigators found that loans were taken between 2002 and 2023 using the identities of individuals including day labourer Nurul Islam, local player Didarul Alam, day labourer Moin Uddin, auto-rickshaw driver Amir Hamza, salon worker Rajdhan Karmakar, and day labourers Nazim and Jasim Uddin.

Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and his wife were barred from leaving the country on October 7 last year, but they reportedly fled abroad despite the restriction.

The ACC also claimed that Saifuzzaman owns substantial assets in nine countries, including 343 properties in the United Kingdom, 228 in Dubai, and 10 houses in the United States.

He is also alleged to have assets in Thailand, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, and Cambodia.