[🇧🇩] Corruption Watch

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ACC investigating allegation of substandard EVM purchase by EC

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has started examining the quality of electronic voting machines, or EVMs, purchased by the Election Commission seven years ago. Speaking to the journalists at the Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Sunday, ACC Assistant Director Nur Alom Siddique sai

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

ACC investigating allegation of substandard EVM purchase by EC
Published :
Jan 27, 2025 00:16
Updated :
Jan 27, 2025 00:16

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has started examining the quality of electronic voting machines, or EVMs, purchased by the Election Commission seven years ago.

Speaking to the journalists at the Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Sunday, ACC Assistant Director Nur Alom Siddique said: "An ‘enforcement’ drive was carried out following a complaint about the purchase of substandard EVMs, bdnews24.com reports.

"As part of this, we conducted a test on three machines stored in the EC office. One of them had a mechanical glitch, the other two were fine."

He said the then-commission had bought around 150,000 EVMs in 2018. Of them, 100,500 machines are alleged to be unusable.

“The EC has stored them at three places. Of these, 618 are in the EC office; about 86,000 are in the Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory and about 62,000 are in the 10 regional offices."

The anti-graft watchdog’s enforcement team also spoke to the EC's senior secretary and several officials to collect necessary information for the investigation.

Nur Alam said: "We have collected some records regarding the purchase of low-grade machines and requested for more data. We will submit a report after scrutinising the evidence."

However, the ACC official did not say who had made the complaint over the faulty EVM purchase.

The raid was carried out following the agency's decision to investigate various allegations in connection with the 11th parliamentary election in 2018.

The corruption watchdog’s Director General (Prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain told reporters on Wednesday that the ACC had decided to investigate the allegations of “abuse of power, criminal misconduct, fraud, overnight ballot stuffing, and financial transactions” during the 11th general election held during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina.​

 

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TK 812CR EMBEZZLEMENT FROM AIRPORT PROJECTS: Tarique Siddiq, ex-secy Mohibul, 17 others sued

The Anti-Corruption Commission has filed four cases against 19 people, including former military adviser Tariq Ahmed Siddique, former civil aviation and tourism ministry senior secretary Mohibul Haque, and...

www.newagebd.net

TK 812CR EMBEZZLEMENT FROM AIRPORT PROJECTS: Tarique Siddiq, ex-secy Mohibul, 17 others sued
Staff Correspondent 27 January, 2025, 23:54

The Anti-Corruption Commission has filed four cases against 19 people, including former military adviser Tariq Ahmed Siddique, former civil aviation and tourism ministry senior secretary Mohibul Haque, and former chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh M Mafidur Rahman, on charges of embezzling Tk 812 crore from three airport development projects.

The four cases were filed with the ACC’s integrated district office in Dhaka, said its director general Md Aktar Hossain at a press briefing at the commission headquarters in Dhaka.

Allegations are that the accused embezzled Tk 812 crore from the three development projects undertaken for Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Cox’s Bazar International Airport and Osmani International Airport in Sylhet.

The first case was filed against 10 people in connection with the embezzlement of Tk 250 crore from the third terminal expansion project at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

According to the case details, the project was initially estimated at Tk 13,000 crore, but the amount was eventually increased to Tk 21,000 crore.

Allegations have been raised that procurement regulations were violated and contracts were unlawfully awarded to favoured contractors, particularly local agent Aerones International Ltd that led to the misappropriation of Tk 250 crore from the project.

The accused, now ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s former military adviser Tariq Ahmed Siddique, former senior secretary Mohibul Haque, former joint secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism Janendranath Sarkar, four former officials of civil aviation authority—chairman M Mafidur Rahman, former chief engineer Md Abdul Malek, then superintendent engineer Md Habibur Rahman, and former chief engineer Sudhendu Bikash Goswami, owner of Aerones International Lutfullah Majed, Md Mahbub Anam, and project director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Expansion (Third Terminal) Project AKM Maksudul Islam.

The second case was filed over the embezzlement of Tk 200 crore from the CAAB-funded project to install radar systems at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The accused are alleged to have engaged in unlawful activities by awarding contracts to their preferred contractors and diverting funds through Aerones International.

The accused in the case are Tariq Ahmed Siddique, former senior secretary Mohibul Haque, former joint secretary Janendranath Sarkar, former CAAB chairman M Mafidur Rahman, former chief engineer Md Abdul Malek, superintendent engineer Md Habibur Rahman, former director of CNS Maintenance Department at CAAB Afroza Nasrin Sultana, former deputy director (planning) AKM Manzur Ahmed, Aerones International owner Lutfullah Majed, and Md Mahbub Anam.

The third case was filed over allegations of embezzling Tk 150 crore from the construction of terminals and runways project implemented in Cox’s Bazar airport.

Tariq Siddique and others allegedly colluded with the Chinese company China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation to bypass standard procurement procedures to illegally divert funds, leading to the embezzlement of Tk 150 crore, said the case statement.

The accused are Tariq Ahmed Siddique, Mohibul Haque, Janendranath Sarkar, M Mafidur Rahman, Md Abdul Malek, Md Habibur Rahman, Lutfullah Majed, Md Mahbub Anam and Md Shafiqul Islam, and executive engineer and project director of the Cox’s Bazar airport development (phase I–IV revised) project Md Yunus Bhuiyan.

The fourth case was filed in connection with the construction of a new terminal at Osmani International Airport in Sylhet on charges of misappropriating Tk 212 crore by disbursing advance payments for work that was never completed.

Despite no work was done, funds were diverted from the project. Aerones International Ltd. is once again implicated, with the company’s directors now having gone into hiding after taking the advance payment from the project, said the case statement.

The accused in the case are Tariq Ahmed Siddique, M Mafidur Rahman, Md Mohibul Haque, Janendranath Sarkar, Md Abdul Malek, Md Habibur Rahman, Mahbubul Anam, Lutfullah Majed, Moidur Rahman, Md Moudud, former deputy secretary Shah Zulfikar Haider and then joint secretary Md Anisur Rahman who is currently additional secretary.​

 

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Accounts, assets of wilful defaulters must be seized: CPD

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has called for closing the accounts of wilful defaulters and holding three former governors accountable for their roles in the beleaguered banking sector.

www.thedailystar.net

Accounts, assets of wilful defaulters must be seized: CPD

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has called for closing the accounts of wilful defaulters and holding three former governors accountable for their roles in the beleaguered banking sector.

The main problem in the banking sector is non-performing loans (NPLs), which are deteriorating the asset quality of lenders and affecting liquidity, said Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the CPD, yesterday.

"The assets of wilful defaulters and their immediate family members should be liquidated, and their businesses should be temporarily nationalised," she said while presenting a paper titled "Navigating Expectations in Turbulent Times" during a briefing at the think tank's office on Tuesday.

The CPD organised the briefing to present its assessment of the state of Bangladesh's economy for the fiscal year 2024-25.

The banking sector, long plagued by political interference and weak regulatory oversight, is now at a critical juncture as the interim government attempts to implement reforms.

The CPD recommends blocking transactions of wilful defaulters by sharing their information with global financial networks such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT).

"This would prevent them from conducting transactions abroad, ensuring accountability and deterring financial misconduct," according to the report.

The report also stated that three former governors of Bangladesh Bank, who undermined the banking sector's stability during Sheikh Hasina's 15-year regime, should be held accountable for their failures.

A bank resolution-type Asset Management Company (AMC) can help reduce NPLs. The merger of weak banks with strong banks is another option for improving the health of the banking sector, she said.

Merging weak banks with stronger ones can enhance the efficiency of weaker institutions. However, careful planning, transparency, thorough audits of weak banks, and proper consultations are required to avoid penalising stronger banks, she added.

She also noted that if weak banks are merged with stronger ones, not all employees will be retained -- some job cuts will be necessary. "This is a social cost that must be accepted."

The social cost would be much higher if the government allowed the closure of some strong banks, so mergers and acquisitions should be considered.

NPLs in Bangladesh's banking sector surged to Tk 284,977 crore as of September 2024, accounting for nearly 17 percent of total outstanding loans in the country.

This figure is 2.7 times higher than the combined budget allocations for education and health in the fiscal year 2024, underscoring the severity of the crisis.

"The opportunity cost is huge," Fahmida said.

State-owned commercial banks are the worst affected, with an NPL ratio of 40.35 percent.

The liquidity situation is equally dire.

Excess liquidity, which is crucial for banks to absorb unexpected financial shocks, has declined sharply.

The root cause of the banking sector's problems lies in weak governance and rampant political interference, she said, adding that board members of state banks and several private banks have historically been appointed based on political connections rather than competence, leading to poor decision-making and widespread corruption.

The independence of Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank, has also been undermined.

Given the strong vested interest groups, an all-out effort must be made and sustained, backed by political commitment at the highest level, to continue banking reforms.

Additionally, the CPD recommends establishing specialised courts and tribunals to expedite the resolution of loan default cases.

At the event, Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the CPD, and Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director of the CPD, were also present.​