Nassa Group Chairman Nazrul to be interrogated at jail gate in graft cases

A Dhaka court has ordered two days of jail-gate interrogation for Nassa Group Chairman and former EXIM Bank chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder in two separate corruption cases involving the embezzlement of Tk857 crore and Tk615 crore.

The order was issued today (30 October) by Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Sabbir Faiz following a hearing on the Anti-Corruption Commission's (ACC) petitions.

ACC Public Prosecutor Khandaker Shamim Hossain said the investigating officers in both cases sought permission to interrogate Nazrul in prison custody.

"We argued in favour of the petition, while the defence opposed it and sought bail," he said.

After hearing both sides, the court issued a two-day interrogation order. Nazrul was not present during the hearing.

According to the petition, the accused persons, including Nazrul, abused their authority, engaged in criminal misconduct and breach of trust, and recommended, approved, and disbursed loans illegally.

Through these acts, they allegedly embezzled Tk857.93 crore from EXIM Bank and transferred the funds across multiple accounts to conceal their source and ownership.

The case was filed against Nazrul and 20 others. 

In the second case, Nazrul and 29 others are accused of abusing power and violating trust to disburse loans illegally, leading to the embezzlement of Tk615.75 crore from EXIM Bank.

The accused are also alleged to have transferred and converted the embezzled money to disguise its origin and ownership. 

In October last year, Nazrul was arrested in the Gulshan area of the capital. He has remained behind bars since then.