Ex-Farmers Bank official Chisty gets 12 years in jail for graft
Staff Reporter :
A Dhaka court on Monday sentenced 12 years imprisonment to former Audit Committee Chairman of the Farmers Bank (now Padma Bank) Mahbubul Haque Chisty alias Babul Chisty, and his son Rashedul Haque Chisty in a case filed over the embezzlement of Tk 1.59 billion.
It also handed five years in jail to Babul’s wife Rosy Chisty, and former First Vice President of the bank Mahsudur Rahman Khan.
Judge of the Special Court-4 in Dhaka, Syed Arafat Hossain, delivered the verdict on Monday, said lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kazal who appeared in the trial proceedings on behalf of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The court imposed a fine of Tk 3.19 billion, double the embezzled amount, on Babul, his wife, and his son.
The jail terms for Babul and Rashedul would be extended by another two years, and for Rosy by another year, if they fail to pay the fine.
The court also ordered to seize all properties of these three accused in favor of the state.
Another convict, Masudur Rahman, will have to pay a Tk 1 million fine, in default he has to serve one year more in jail. The court ordered the seizure of all of his properties as well.
Babul Chisty was brought to court from jail for the verdict, while his son Rashedul Haque, who was on bail, appeared in the court.
Rosy and Masudur, however, did not appear in the court during the verdict.
The court cancelled their bail order and issued arrest warrants against them. Both Babul and Rashedul were taken to jail after the verdict was announced.
The ACC filed the case on April 10, 2018, with the Gulshan Police Station on charge of embezzlement of Tk 1.59 billion.
According to the case documents, Babul was accused of violating banking rules by depositing or withdrawing ‘huge’ amounts of money through an account at the Gulshan branch of the bank.
The charges against him also include making suspicious transactions of nearly Tk 1.59 billion by using the names of his wife, children, and firms owned by the members of his family through 25 accounts in different banks in cooperation with some Farmers Bank officials.
