The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is yet to make any progress in its investigation into the alleged Tk 3,500 crore-scam at state-run BASIC Bank, launched in October last year.

“The inquiry into the scams of Bismillah Towels Group has been given priority. After completion of this investigation, the ACC team will start work with the BASIC Bank issues,” M Badiuzzaman, chairman of ACC, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Bismillah Towels Group has allegedly taken away nearly Tk 1,200 crore from five banks—Prime, Shahjalal, Jamuna, Premier and Janata—on forged documents.

The same team that is investigating the Bismillah Towels’ case will look into the BASIC Bank irregularities, Badiuzzaman said.

An ACC official said the Bismillah Towels’ investigation is nearing completion, and a report is likely to be submitted by the end of this month or early next month.

“Another reason the BASIC Bank inquiry is being delayed is that we are yet to receive the information that we sought on money laundering from the central bank,” said the official who is a member of the corruption watchdog’s investigation team.

BASIC Bank, however, has given all the information that ACC asked for, the official added.
“We are also observing the developments under a deal (memorandum of understanding) between BASIC Bank and Bangladesh Bank,” Badiuzzaman said.

The irregularities worth nearly Tk 4,424.93 crore came to public knowledge last year after a central bank inspection in four of BASIC Bank’s branches—Motijheel, Shantinagar, Dilkusha and Gulshan branches—between December 2009 and November 2012.

Of the amount, Tk 1,594.73 crore alone was given by the Gulshan branch, and majority of the loan was issued without proper documentation and scrutiny.

The bank gave loans to nonexistent companies and promptly approved loans to clients, right after they had opened accounts.