ACC submits charge sheet against ex-minister Saifuzzaman, 35 others over Tk25 crore UCB loan fraud
The charge sheet was filed today (5 January) by Moshiur Rahman, deputy director of the ACC headquarters, before a Special Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court in Chattogram.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has submitted a charge sheet against former minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, his wife Rukmila Zaman, and 34 others over the embezzlement of Tk25 crore from United Commercial Bank (UCB).
The charge sheet was filed today (5 January) by Moshiur Rahman, deputy director of the ACC headquarters, before a Special Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court in Chattogram.
This is the first charge sheet filed against Saifuzzaman and his associates, although the ACC has lodged a total of 13 cases against him, his wife, and several bank officials over similar loan-related irregularities.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Advocate Mokarram Hossain, public prosecutor for the ACC, confirmed the development to The Business Standard (TBS). "Following the preliminary investigation, the allegations were found to be substantiated. Accordingly, the ACC filed the charge sheet against Saifuzzaman, his wife, and 34 others, including several UCB officials," he said.
The court has set 7 January for a hearing on whether it will take cognisance of the charge sheet.
According to the ACC, the accused, acting in collusion, took a Tk25 crore loan from UCB in the name of a shell company, Vision Trading. The money was later siphoned off by transferring it to various concerns linked to the Aramit Group and to personal bank accounts of the accused.
"The embezzled funds were subsequently laundered abroad," Moshiur Rahman said, adding that investigators had seized 23 sacks of documents containing evidence of money laundering.
The case adds to mounting legal trouble for the former minister, as the ACC continues its probe into alleged large-scale loan fraud and illicit fund transfers involving him and related entities.
