The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has approved the filing of five separate cases against former adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Salman F Rahman, along with 33 others, on charges of embezzling Tk1,939 crore through stock market manipulation and loan fraud.
ACC Director General Akhtar Hossain disclosed this information at a briefing on Monday.
According to the briefing, a five-member investigation team was formed to probe allegations against Beximco Group’s Salman F Rahman and others, including siphoning off of thousands of crores of taka from shareholders through stock market fraud, manipulation of placement shares, using illegal influence to secure loans from various public and private banks and embezzling the funds, and laundering thousands of crores of taka abroad.
The inquiry committees revealed that Peerless Garments Ltd laundered $50,250,772, Platinum Garments Ltd $198,803,658, Kanchpur Apparels Ltd $84,029,547, Skynet Apparels Ltd $14,729,340; and New Dhaka Industries Ltd $47,715,482, totaling $215,528,801 (calculated at Tk90 per dollar).
“Since the preliminary investigation confirmed that a total of Tk1,939,75,92,094 was embezzled in the name of loans from Janata Bank PLC’s local office and laundered abroad, the commission approved filing five separate cases against the following 34 accused,” the ACC stated.
The other accused includes Beximco Limited’s ASF Rahman, director Iqbal Ahmed, managing director Osman Kaiser Chowdhury, director AB Siddiqur Rahman, director Masud Iqramullah Khan, director Shah Manjurul Haque, RR Global Trading FZE’s owner Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman and Ahmed Shahriar Rahman, Skynet Apparels Limited’s managing director Anwarul Bashar, director Nasrin Ahmed, Cresent Accessories Limited’s managing director Abu Nayem Mahmud Salehin, Platinum Garments Limited’s managing director Mohammad Alif Ibne Zulfikar, director Nusrat Haider, New Dhaka Industries Limited’s managing director Salahuddin Khan Majlish, director Abdur Rouf, Katchpur Apparels Limited’s managing director Tanbir Elahi Afendi, Peerless Garments Limited’s managing director Wasiur Rahman, director Rizia Akter, Janata Bank’s former managing director Abdus Salam Azad and Abdul Jabbar, former general manager Mizanur Rahman, former deputy general manager Abdur Rahim, former general manager Shahidul Haque, deputy general manager Mamtazul Islam, senior officer Rafiqul Islam, manager Saleh Ahmed, assistant general manager Moazzam Hossain, former assistant general manager Mohammad Shahjahan, former assistant general manager Humayun Kabir Dhali and manager SM Mahtab Hossain Badsha.
In July, the ACC found evidence against Salman F Rahman embezzling Tk1100 crore from IFIC Bank by taking loans in the name of fake companies. The anti-graft watchdog filed two cases against 39 people, including Salman F Rahman, his son Shayan F Rahman, and former Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Anwaruzzaman.
Salman F Rahman was arrested from the capital’s Sadarghat area on August 13, 2024, as he, along with former Law Minister Anisul Huq, was trying to flee the capital through the waterways.
