A woman has filed a case against nine people, including four officials of Dutch-Bangla Bank, accusing them of embezzling Tk85lakh from her account by exploiting her trust at the bank’s Dania branch in Dhaka’s Shani Akhra.
The complainant, Nargis Akter, filed the case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ashraful Haque on Wednesday.
After recording her statement, the court directed the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to investigate the allegations and submit a report, her lawyer Majedur Rahman confirmed.
The accused bank officials are Mohit Morshed, assistant vice-president and deputy manager of the Dania branch; assistant officer Sourav Saha; remittance officer Md Rafiqul Islam; and branch manager Md Golam Kibria.
The other accused are Global Golden Jute and Craft Ltd Chairman Mohammad Mahbub Hossain, Managing Director Md Hakim Ali Sardar, managers Kazi Enamul Kabir and Shawkat Hasan, and the company itself. Several unidentified individuals have also been named in the case.
According to the complaint, Nargis, a homemaker who cannot read or write, deposited Tk1,11,85,319 in her bank account from the sale of her land and car and savings from house and shop rentals.
As she was cannot read or write, bank officials regularly helped her fill out cheques and deposit money, the complaint said.
On 17 September, when she went to the bank to withdraw Tk5 lakh, the accused allegedly took an additional cheque from her cheque book and obtained her signatures on several documents, claiming they were required to open a deposit pension scheme (DPS).
On 4 October, she returned to the bank to check her account balance and was told that only Tk3,35,204 remained.
When she asked about the missing money, bank official Mohit Morshed reportedly told her that Tk85 lakh had been paid to Global Golden Jute and Craft Ltd through a cheque dated 23 September, using a Positive Pay Instruction form.
Nargis said in her complaint that she had not visited the bank on 23 September and had never issued a cheque to the company.
She alleged that the cheque taken from her on 17 September was later filled out with a forged signature and amount.
A Positive Pay Instruction form was also allegedly prepared to transfer the money to the company’s account at Pubali Bank PLC’s Rajbari branch through cheque clearance.
According to the complaint, on 28 September, accused Shawkat Hasan withdrew Tk85lakh in cash from Pubali Bank’s Principal Branch on behalf of the company and misappropriated the money.
The complainant further alleged that she had no involvement in any business and that the company’s bank account, opened on 1 September, was used to fraudulently transfer her money with the direct assistance of bank officials.
