Narendra Kumar Sinha has testified against his brother the former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha in a case that involves embezzlement of Tk 40 million in credit from The Farmers Bank.
SK Sinha’s nephew Shankhajit Sinha also deposed against him in the loan fraud case of the bank, which is currently the Padma Bank, at the court on Monday.
Both of them said an account with the Uttara branch of Shahjalal Islami Bank was opened “on instructions from SK Sinha”, but they “had no idea” about the transfer of Tk 22.5 million in it, reports bdnews24.com.
Narendra, aged 70, is SK Sinha’s elder brother and Shankhajit is the son of his maternal cousin.
Mahbubul Haque Chisty alias Babul Chishti, the former chairman of Farmers Bank's audit committee who is also accused in the case, fell ill during the witness hearing and was taken to the National Medical College Hospital near the court. He was later taken back to the jail.
The nine others accused in the case include KM Shamim, former managing director of Farmers Bank, its former senior executive vice president Gazi Salauddin, first vice president Swapon Kumar Ray, first vice president Shafiuddin Askary, vice president Lutful Haque, Tangail residents Md Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, Ranajit Chandra Saha and his wife Shanti Ray.
Md Ziauddin Ahmed, a former manager of the bank’s Gulshan branch, had been accused in the case initially but the investigator dropped charges against him. Chishti has been included in the chargesheet later.
Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of Dhaka's Special Judge Court No. 4 adjourned the hearing until Jan 13, when it is scheduled to hear the statement of High Court’s bench reader Md Mahbub. SK Sinha deposited the money in the account through Mahbub, according to the case dossier.
The accused illegally created fake loans, transferred the money to different bank accounts and withdrew it in cash and through pay-orders before smuggling it secretly, according to the charges.
They abused power in collusion to achieve dishonest goals to influence the lending procedure for their own and others’ benefits, the chargesheet added.
The Anti-Corruption Commission found “evidence” of fraud involving transactions of Tk 40 million borrowed by two so-called businessmen, Shahjahan and Niranjan, from the bank, ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood had said earlier.
The national antigraft agency later launched an investigation into allegations that the fund was deposited into Sinha’s bank account, credited as the proceeds of the sale of his house.
Sinha came under fire from the ruling Awami League over the verdict on the 16th amendment to the constitution and went on leave in October 2017.
Later, he became the first chief justice of the country to quit when he submitted his resignation from overseas, 81 days before the end of his term.
After his resignation, the Supreme Court said in a rare statement that Sinha had been facing 11 specific charges, including corruption, money laundering, financial irregularities and moral blunder.