Tk 9.24 lakh embezzlement: former Grameen Bank centre manager jailed for 5 years, two acquitted
Photo: Collected
A Pabna special judge’s court has sentenced a former Grameen Bank official to five years’ imprisonment in a money embezzlement case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). He has also been ordered to return the embezzled Tk 9,24,008.
Two other bank officials in the same case were acquitted as the charges against them were not proven.
Judge Abu Saleh Md Salahuddin Khan of the Pabna Special Judge’s Court delivered the verdict on Wednesday afternoon.
ACC lawyer Advocate Malay Kumar Das confirmed the matter. The convicted official, Syed Abdullah Al Mamun, is a former senior centre manager of Grameen Bank’s Bhadraghat branch in Kamarkhanda upazila of Sirajganj. His home is in Guagati village of Ullapara upazila in the same district, and his father’s name is Syed Abdul Khaleque.
The two acquitted are Syed Nazrul Islam, a senior centre manager of the same branch, and branch manager Anwar Hossain. The convicted Syed Abdullah Al Mamun was present in court during the verdict; he was later sent to jail.
According to the case statement, it was alleged that while Syed Abdullah Al Mamun and Syed Nazrul Islam were working as senior centre managers and Anwar Hossain as branch manager at Grameen Bank’s Bhadraghat branch in Kamarkhanda, Sirajganj, they colluded from August 2009 to April 2014 to embezzle money through forgery and by showing fake loan disbursements. According to the allegation, money collected from clients was embezzled without being entered in the collection sheets or deposited with the bank.
Over the incident, Saidur Rahman, then deputy assistant director of the ACC’s integrated district office in Pabna, filed the case with Kamarkhanda police station on 24 January 2019. After the investigation, he himself, as investigation officer, submitted the charge sheet to the court on 31 August 2021.
The court delivered the verdict on Wednesday after lengthy hearings, recording of testimony and review of the evidence presented. Advocate Saidul Islam Chowdhury fought the case for the defence, while ACC special lawyer Advocate Malay Kumar Das represented the state.
Sources
Original report: Ajker Patrika
