Court directs jail interrogation of Nassa Group Chief
Staff Reporter :
A Dhaka court has ordered two days of jail-gate interrogation for Nassa Group Chairman and former EXIM Bank Chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder in connection with two major corruption cases involving the alleged embezzlement of Tk857 crore and Tk615 crore.
The order was issued on Thursday (30 October) by Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Sabbir Faiz, following a hearing on petitions filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
ACC Public Prosecutor Khandaker Shamim Hossain told reporters that the investigating officers in both cases sought the court’s permission to interrogate Nazrul while he remains in prison custody.
“We placed arguments supporting the petitions, while the defence counsel opposed them and sought bail for the accused,” said the prosecutor.
After hearing both sides, the court approved a two-day jail-gate interrogation, rejecting the defence’s bail plea. Nazrul was not present during the hearing. According to the ACC’s case files, Nazrul and several others abused their authority, committed criminal misconduct, and breached fiduciary trust while serving at EXIM Bank.
In the first case, Nazrul and 20 other accused allegedly misused their positions to recommend, approve, and disburse loans illegally, leading to the embezzlement of Tk857.93 crore.
The funds were then reportedly transferred across multiple bank accounts to conceal their origins and true ownership.
The second case accuses Nazrul and 29 others of similar offences, including the illegal disbursement of loans and the subsequent misappropriation of Tk615.75 crore. Investigators claim the accused also engaged in money laundering by transferring and converting the embezzled funds to disguise their source.
The ACC launched investigations into the two cases after uncovering evidence of irregularities in loan approvals under Nazrul’s chairmanship.
The watchdog alleges that these schemes caused massive financial losses to EXIM Bank and were part of a broader pattern of abuse within the institution’s loan management process.
A senior ACC official said the interrogation at the jail gate would focus on tracing the movement of the embezzled funds and identifying the individuals and companies involved in laundering the money.
Nazrul Islam Mazumder was arrested in October last year from the Gulshan area of the capital and has remained in custody since his arrest.
Once regarded as a prominent figure in Bangladesh’s banking and business sector, Nazrul now faces multiple graft allegations, with investigators saying more cases could follow as new evidence surfaces.
The court’s latest order marks a significant step forward in the ACC’s high-profile investigation into one of the country’s largest financial corruption cases in recent years.