Farmers Bank scam: Chisty sued again for embezzlement
The case has been filed against them for their alleged involvement in embezzling around Tk63 crore from Farmers Bank
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed another case against Mahbubul Haque Chisty, former audit committee chairman of Farmers Bank–presently Padma Bank–and five others on a charge of appropriating money.
The case has been filed against them for their alleged involvement in embezzling around Tk63 crore from Farmers Bank.
On Tuesday, ACC Deputy Assistant Director Md Shahjahan Miraz filed the case with the commission's Dhaka 1 integrated district office, confirmed ACC spokesperson Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya.
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This is the 14th case filed against Chisty who is now in prison.
Farmers Bank was renamed as Padma Bank after the scandal.
Apart from Chisty, the five others named in the latest case include Rashedul Haque Chisty, Chisty's son and managing director of Bakshigonj Jute Spinners; Jahangir Alam Mazumdar, former vice president of Farmers Banks and the bank's Motijheel branch in-charge; plus Redwanul Kabir Chowdhury, Chowdhury Al Faruk and Nimmi Kabir Chowdhury, respectively the managing director, chairman and director of Al Faruk Bags Ltd.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), Al Faruk Bags Ltd, a business in Bogura, took out loans from Farmers Bank with Chisty's support.
Though Al Faruk Bags did not have any business relations with Bakhshiganj Jute Spinners, they paid Tk1.47 crore to the account of the jute mills owned by Chisty's family.
Later, Al Faruk Bags borrowed more than Tk40.79 crore–which stood at around Tk63 crore including interest.
With the loan application, they mortgaged land that was overvalued. During the loan period in 2015, the land value was shown at around Tk10 crore. However, in 2018, the bank surveyed the land and valued it at around Tk5 crore.
The ACC said in FIR that the bank disbursed the money without a proper valuation of the mortgaged property.
The FIR also said the loan receiver did not pay a single penny after taking out the loan.
Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir not accused
The ACC has been probing the Farmers Bank scam since 2017 and has reviewed the Bangladesh Bank report as part of the investigation.
The central bank report said former home minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir and Chisty took a share of clients' loans and thus committed moral turpitude and fraud.
Farmers Bank–which got approval on political consideration in 2012–had been involved in irregularities from the very beginning. It faced a trust crisis and depositors started withdrawing their money.
As the situation deteriorated, Alamgir and Chisty were compelled to quit. They also resigned from their directorial posts.
Moreover, the Bangladesh Bank removed the bank's managing director AKM Shamim.
The ACC filed eight cases in connection with the scam. Six cases were filed on charges of obtaining wealth illegally–against Chisty and his family members.
Chisty was arrested after the first case was filed in April 2018.
Meanwhile, Alamgir has not been accused in any case, so far, though the Bangladesh Bank report mentioned his name.
The movable and immovable properties owned by Chisty and his family have already been seized and frozen in connection with the cases.
The properties are worth over Tk100 crore on paper but officials said their real value could exceed Tk1,000 crore.
