Top officials of five business houses, accused in the much-talked-about Sonali Bank loan scam cases, on Monday failed to turn up at the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) head office to face their scheduled grilling. Thirteen officials of five the business firms — T & Brothers, DN Sports, Paragon Knit Composite Limited, Nakshi Knit Composite Limited and Khan jahan Ali Sweaters Limited — were scheduled to be interrogated today (Dec 2). The officials defied the graft body’s directive in an apparent bid to avert arrest. “We couldn’t quiz them as no one turned up here today to face the ACC questioning,” ACC investigation officer and deputy director Mir Zainal Abedin Shibly told UNB. The officials of the business firms scheduled to be grilled today are chairman of T & Brothers Jinat Fatema, managing director Tauhid Hossain and director Taslim Hasan; managing director of Paragon Knit Composite Ltd Saiful Islam Raja; chairman of Nakshi Knit Composite Ltd Amena Begum, managing director Abdul Malek; chairman of DN Sports Motahar Uddin Chowdhury, managing director Shafiqur Rahman John, director Fahmida Akhter Shikha; chairman of Khan Zahan Ali Sweater Tajul Islam, managing director Abdul Jalil Sheikh, and directors Rafiqul Islam and Mir Shawkat Ali. On November 28 this year, the Commission served notices, signed by Mir Zainal Abedin Shibly, to 29 people, including 13 officials of five business entities, to face questioning. The nine officials of Sonali Bank, made accused in the cases, will be quizzed on December 8 next. They are general managers Nani Gopal Nath, Mashrurul Huda Siraji, and Sabita Siraj and AGM Ashraf Ali Patwari, AGM Kamrul Hossain Khan, AGM Saiful Hasan, AGM Khurshid Alam and executive officer Abdul Matin, senior executive officer Mehrunnesa Merry. The ACC will quiz seven officials of Bangladesh Bank on December 5 to complete its investigation on the loan scam. On January 1 this year, the national graft watchdog filed 26 cases against 35 officials of Sonali Bank and five business firms, including former managing director of Sonali Bank Humayun Kabir and managing director of Hallmark Group Tanvir Mahmud for swindling out Tk 350 crore (funded) from the Ruposhi Bangla branch of the bank. – UNB
