The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has moved to correct a controversial clearance letter that declared two Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) officials free of pending cases despite both being accused in corruption cases filed by the watchdog itself.
The ACC has also launched an inquiry into how the false information was issued.
The move comes after TIMES of Bangladesh reported on Tuesday that the ACC had told the government there was no case under investigation or trial against CAAB engineer Mohammad Aminul Hashib, even though he was the ninth accused in an ACC case over the alleged embezzlement of nearly Tk150 crore from the Cox’s Bazar airport development project.
ACC Director General for Money Laundering Mokammel Haque told the media that a revised letter, acknowledging the pending cases against the two officials, was being sent to the relevant authorities.
“We are also investigating how this happened,” he said.
Hashib was among 12 people accused in the case filed over alleged corruption in the runway expansion and new terminal construction at Cox’s Bazar International Airport. The allegations include abuse of power, violations of procurement rules, project cost inflation and favouring preferred contractors.
Yet about 13 months after filing the case, the ACC stated in a letter dated 11 March 2026 that no case against Hashib was under investigation or trial.
Three and a half months later, on 30 June, CAAB promoted Aminul Hashib from executive engineer to superintendent engineer, a Grade-4 post. His name and engineering position are also reflected in official public procurement records and state news agency reporting.
The same ACC letter also gave similar clearance to another CAAB engineer, Moidur Rahman Md Moudud. CAAB’s official records identify Moudud as an executive engineer, while reports on the Sylhet Osmani International Airport project identify him as its project director.
Moudud and Hashib accused in a separate ACC case over the alleged misappropriation of Tk212 crore from the expansion of Osmani International Airport in Sylhet. The case alleges that an advance payment of Tk212 crore was released and misappropriated in connection with the airport’s new terminal project.
The Cox’s Bazar case names 12 accused, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s military adviser Tariq Ahmed Siddique, while the Osmani airport case names 11 accused. In both cases Moudud and Hashib are accused.
The earlier TIMES investigation also reported that the clearance was issued through collusion among ACC officials in exchange for undue benefits.
