Ex-Basic Bank chairman seeks HC bail in 58 graft cases

Former Basic Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu has sought anticipatory bail from the High Court in 58 corruption cases filed over the bank's huge amount of loan scams.

Anti-Corruption Commission's lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan confirmed it to The Daily Star last night.

The ACC lawyer said Bachhu filed 58 petitions with the HC through lawyers seeking anticipatory bail in 58 cases and the ACC's coordinator has received the copies of the petitions.

The ACC has approved the charge sheets against Bacchu and 146 others in connection with 59 cases filed over embezzlement of Tk 2,265 crore.

The commission submitted most of the charge sheets before the trial courts concerned, Khurshid said.

According to a Bangladesh Bank enquiry, around Tk 4,500 crore was siphoned out of the bank between 2009 and 2013 when Bacchu chaired its board. On July 14, 2014, the central bank sent a report on the scam to the ACC with details on how people embezzled money from the bank through shell companies and dubious accounts.