ACC awaits 'key' documents from Bangladesh Bank in inquiry into Atiur

Despite requests in two phases, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has not received the information and documents within the stipulated time for the inquiry it launched against former Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman over a series of allegations.

The latest letter sent by the anti-graft watchdog to the bank also sought information on three governors, five deputy governors, and its 19 former and current employees and two foreign consultants involved in investigating the reserve heist incident.

ACC officials said the watchdog sent the letter to the central bank on Sep 9 as part of the information gathering for the investigation into allegations against Atiur and a new complaint related to the reserve heist.

The letter requested the information be supplied by Sept 25. However, the ACC has not yet received all the documents.

On Sunday, ACC Deputy Director and spokesman Aktarul Islam informed bdnews24.com about sending the second letter but did not provide details on the progress of the matter.

A senior official of the commission, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "While some information has been received from Bangladesh Bank, many crucial documents have not been supplied yet."

Another senior official, also speaking anonymously, said: "A letter requesting the information had been sent to the governor before. As all the information wasn’t provided, a new letter was sent again. This time, the Bangladesh Bank reserve heist issue was given special importance."

The ACC began investigating Atiur in June over a cluster of allegations, including abuse of power, irregularities, and facilitating large-scale loan fraud in the country’s banking sector during his tenure.

According to the officials, the three-member probe team is conducting its inquiry by adding a new allegation over the reserve heist.

The ACC decided to launch an inquiry against Atiur, who headed the central bank for two terms over seven years during the ousted Awami League government, on allegations of contributing to the “deterioration” of the banking sector over the past 15 years.

The agency had first requested details on him from the Bangladesh Bank in June.

Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan told bdnews24.com that all information requested by the ACC is always provided. However, collecting some information takes time.

"That's why we give the ACC an interim response and request an extension."

He noted that the issue is not really one of “non-cooperation”. Instead, if there is a delay, they request time, which is normal and acceptable.

On Feb 5, 2016, hackers used fraudulent SWIFT codes to steal $81 million from Bangladesh Bank’s reserves at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The transferred money was sent to the Philippines.

Later, on Mar 15 of that year, a Bangladesh Bank official initiated a case at Dhaka’s Motijheel Police Station over the heist. No specific person, however, was directly named as a defendant in that money laundering prevention case.

The case is being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police. The agency, however, has repeatedly failed to submit its probe report, despite taking extensions.

A senior ACC official said the allegations against Atiur include issuing policies favouring loan defaulters, enabling systemic fraud such as the Hallmark and S Alam Group scandals, and failing to act against widespread loan embezzlement across banks.