ACC sues ex-BB chief Atiur, economist Abul Barakat

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday filed a lawsuit against former Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman, eminent economist Abul Barakat and 25 others for their suspected involvement in embezzling nearly Tk300 crore.

The corruption case has been filed with ACC Integrated District Office in Dhaka, an ACC official has told reporters.

As per the case statement, the accused borrowed Tk297 crore from Janata Bank under the name of AnonTex Group. As of April last year, the group had defaulted on Tk6,528 crore loans taken from Janata Bank.

The amount was nearly 182% more than the bank’s paid up capital, seriously violating the regulation that limited state-run banks’ loans to a single entity to 25% of paid-up capital.

Many business entities, including AnonTex Group, violated regulations and bypassed scrutiny with the blessings of Awami League autocratic government during 2009-2014.

Notably, the ACC launched a probe into AnonTex loan irregularities in 2022, but abruptly halted legal proceedings due to a “lack of evidence.”