CRI under ACC scrutiny for fund misuse

Staff Reporter :

The enforcement team of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has discovered a Fixed Deposit Receipt (FDR) at IFIC Bank in the name of the Centre for Research and Information (CRI).

ACC Director General (Prevention) Md Akhter Hossain shared this information with reporters at the ACC headquarters this afternoon.

He stated that the ACC’s enforcement team had conducted a raid at the CRI office, but the office was found closed on Tuesday.

During the raid, the team collected CRI’s banking records from several financial institutions, including Dutch-Bangla Bank, IFIC Bank, and Sonali Bank, the director general confirmed.

The ACC, the country’s anti-corruption watchdog, discovered an FDR amounting to Taka 35.21 crore at IFIC Bank and also obtained records of transactions involving Sonali Bank linked to the CRI.

Acting on confidential information, the ACC conducted the drive against the CRI, according to the official.

The ACC investigation revealed that CRI’s Board of Directors had allegedly misused state funds to implement various political agendas under different programmes.

“Based on the findings, it was identified that CRI Chairman Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed (also known as Sajeeb Wazed Joy), Vice-Chairman Saima Wazed Putul, and trustees Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Nasrul Hamid were connected with the FDR,” the director general stated.