Charges pressed against ex-CJ Sinha, 10 others in graft case

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday pressed charges against former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others for misappropriating and laundering about Tk 4 crore of Farmers Bank in 2016.

ACC Director Benjir Ahmed, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Senior Special Judge’s Court of Dhaka, showing 23 people as prosecution witnesses.   

The IO showed Justice SK Sinha and 10 others “fugitives” in the charge sheet and appealed to the court to issue arrest warrants against them.

The court will decide on January 5 whether to accept the charge sheet and issue arrest warrants against the accused in the case.

The other accused are: the bank’s former MD AKM Shamim, Senior Executive Vice-President and former head of Credit Division Gazi Salahuddin, First Vice-President of Credit Division Swapan Kumar Roy, First Vice-President Shafiuddin Askary, former chairman of the bank’s audit committee Mahbubul Haque Chisty and Vice-President Lutful Haque.

One Shahjahan of Tangail’s Sreehoripur village, Ranjit Chandra Saha of the district’s Jodunathpur village, his wife Santri Roy and nephew Niranjan Chandra Saha have also been accused.

The name of senior vice-president and former branch manager Md Ziauddin Ahmed was not included in the charge sheet as the ACC probe did not find his involvement.

Farmers Bank was later renamed Padma Bank.

The ACC in October last year said it found evidence of fraud involving transactions of Tk 4 crore borrowed with fake documents by two businessmen, Shahjahan and Niranjan, from the bank. It said the money was deposited in Justice Sinha’s account.

Justice Sinha resigned on November 11, 2017, from abroad. He is now in the US.