Eastern Bank chairman, 45 officials sued for embezzling Tk11 crore in Chattogram
According to the complaint, Eastern Bank PLC was named as the first accused, with its Chairman Md Shawkat Ali Chowdhury as the second accused
A case has been filed against Eastern Bank PLC Chairman Md Shawkat Ali Chowdhury along with 45 other officials over allegations of embezzling Tk11 crore from a customer.
A businessman named Murtuza Ali filed the case with the court of Chattogram's Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sarkar Hasan Shahriar this afternoon (26 February).
The court has directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the matter.
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According to the complaint, Eastern Bank PLC was named as the first accused, with its Chairman Md Shawkat Ali Chowdhury as the second accused.
Other accused individuals include Managing Director Ali Reza Iftekhar, directors, senior executives, and various officials from the bank's corporate and branch-level operations.
Murtuza Ali, a director of Bhaiya Group of Industries, claimed that in 2017, he deposited Tk5.2 crore in a savings account at Eastern Bank's OR Nizam Road branch, expecting a 7% profit as per the bank's policy.
However, the promised profit was not provided. Later, his total balance, including profit, amounted to Tk6.1 crore, which he transferred to the bank's Chandgaon branch.
Between 2017 and 2018, Murtuza Ali opened six Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDR) worth Tk5.8 crore at the Chandgaon branch of the bank and applied for a secured overdraft (OSD) loan against them.
While he was abroad in 2019, he discovered that fake savings and loan accounts had been created in his name using forged signatures and incorrect information. Through these fraudulent accounts, Tk9.77 crore was withdrawn as loans, and Tk5.44 crore was allegedly embezzled, the complaint said.
Despite sending legal notices to the bank demanding his money, Murtuza Ali claimed that the bank refused to return the funds. He stated in the case filing that, including profits, he is owed a total of Tk11 crore.
His lawyer Helal Bin Manzur Tamim said the bank officials misused Murtuza Ali's fixed deposits and savings accounts to secure loans and embezzle funds while he was overseas.
"The court has accepted the case and ordered the CID to conduct an investigation into the allegations," he confirmed.
