The Anti-Corruption Commission, or ACC, has initiated a lawsuit against 29 people, including the bank's directors and officials, for embezzling money from National Bank Limited, or NBL, which was in talks to merge with another bank during the deposed Awami League government.
The case pertains to the alleged misappropriation of Tk 4.59 billion of the loan amount by creating paper bills. Some members of Sikder's family, who have been in control of the bank for a long time, have been accused.
ACC Director General (Prevention) Akhtar Hossain announced the decision of the complaint on Tuesday.
The accused are Sikder Group Managing Director Ron Haque Sikder and his brother Rick Haque Sikder, Parveen Haque, Monowara Sikder, AKM Enamul Hoque Shameem, Naimuzzaman Bhuiyan Mukta, Khalilur Rahman, Anwar Hossain, Mabrur Hossain, Zakaria Taher, and Moazzem Hossain.
Among them, Shameem and Mukta were Awami League MPs in the dissolved 12th parliament.
The other accused in the case are -- Muhammad Mohsin, Saad Musa Group boss and former director of the South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce Bank, executive vice presidents and managers [SEVP] of National Bank Nizam Ahmed, Ishtiaq Hasan, Iftekhar Hossain among others.
Akhtar said the anti-graft watchdog had filed a case against Mohsin, owner of Saad Musa Group, and his wife Shamima Nargis, director of the Meridian Finance & Investment Limited, for allegedly embezzling Tk 50 billion.
On the basis of that finding, the case has been filed for embezzlement of Tk 4.59 billion, he said.
Mohsin is accused of embezzling the money by taking a loan from the Chattogram Agrabad branch of NBL. The ACC has found the involvement of other accused in the fraud.
The court issued a travel ban on Mohsin on Oct 30 this year.
In 2009, Sikder Group had sole control over the board of directors of National Bank. Long-time chairman Zainul Haque Sikder died in 2021.
Syed Ferhat Anwar was appointed chairman in December 2023 following a dispute between members of the Sikder family. During his tenure, discussions were initiated to merge NBL with United Commercial Bank, or UCB.
After the fall of the Awami League government in the uprising, this discussion stalled. Meanwhile, the NBL, which was riddled with loan frauds and irregularities, fell into a liquidity crisis. —bdnews24.com
