Tk 137m cheque forgery: Six former officials of Fareast Islami Life Ins sued

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against six former officials of Fareast Islami Life Insurance Company Limited over allegations of cheque forgery and embezzlement of about Tk 137 million.

According to the case statement filed by ACC Deputy Assistant Director Md Sajib Ahmed, the accused allegedly issued forged cheques and fabricated documents to siphon off company funds in the name of construction work that was never carried out.

The accused are the company's former chairman  Md Nazrul Islam, former managing director and chief executive officer Md Hemayet Ullah, former deputy managing director and company secretary Syed Abdul Aziz, chief engineer and chairman of the Investment and Real Estate Development Committee Amir Mohammad Ibrahim, former senior executive vice-president and head of investment and banking Sheikh Abdur Razzak, and former head of internal audit and compliance Md Kamal Hossain Hawlader.

The ACC alleged that the officials, in collusion with others, prepared fake work orders, fraudulent advance payment applications and forged bill vouchers in the name of civil and electro-mechanical works at Fareast Tower-2 on Topkhana Road in Dhaka.

Using these documents, they allegedly issued 16 cheques worth about Tk137.15 million in favour of National Development Engineers Ltd (NDE) as advance payment for the project.

Investigators said the agenda for the payment was not included in the notice of the 264th meeting of the Investment and Real Estate Development Sub-Committee (IRDC) held on January 13, 2016. However, a resolution was later prepared claiming that the committee had approved the advance payment.

The ACC said the resolution did not bear the signature of the chairman or any other authorised official, raising suspicion that it was fabricated. After the cheques were issued, part of the money was withdrawn in cash while the rest was transferred through banks to adjust previously obtained fraudulent loans, according to the complaint.

The accused have been charged under several sections of the Bangladesh Penal Code, including criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery, as well as provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012.

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