Bangladesh ACC Files Case Against Eight Over Tk23.68 Crore Chattogram Land Fraud

Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against eight people, including a serving executive engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD), over the alleged embezzlement of about Tk23.68 crore through forgery and fraud involving government land in Chattogram. The ACC announced the case at a press conference on 4 October, as reported by The Business Standard, which published the details of the filing.

The case centers on 24.96 decimals of government-owned land in the Agrabad commercial area of Chattogram. For readers unfamiliar with the unit, a decimal is a measure of land area used in South Asia; 24.96 decimals is roughly one-quarter of an acre. The ACC alleges the land was occupied and used fraudulently through forged records and a failure to pay rent, causing a loss of Tk23,68,39,268. That figure is the same as the roughly Tk23.68 crore cited in the case filing.

Who is Accused?

The ACC named Mohammad Shah-Alam Faruk, a former sub-divisional engineer of the Chattogram PWD and the current executive engineer of the Bagerhat PWD, among the accused. The other seven are Md Farid Ahmed, proprietor of M/s Concord Trading; Mohammad Fahim Ahmed, proprietor of Agrabad Convention Hall; Fatema Begum; Hasina Momtaz; Md Foyez Ahmed; Rokeya Sultana; and Shaheen Sultana.

The ACC said it approved the filing of the case over the alleged forgery, fraudulent occupation and failure to pay rent for the government property. The commission also said the accused allegedly abused their entrusted powers, benefited themselves and others, and created forged records through fraud and used them as genuine.

What the ACC Announced

ACC Public Relations Officer and Deputy Director Aktarul Islam disclosed the information at the press conference on 4 October. The ACC's statement described the alleged loss as Tk23,68,39,268, which matches the roughly Tk23.68 crore cited in the case filing. The commission did not say when the alleged fraud took place or over what period the rent went unpaid.

The ACC did not provide details on how the alleged forged records were created or detected, whether any arrests have been made, or what the next procedural step in the case will be. There was also no immediate response or comment from any of the accused or from the PWD. It is not clear from the available information whether the government land has been recovered or remains occupied.

Background on the Agencies

The ACC is Bangladesh's main anti-corruption agency, responsible for investigating and prosecuting corruption and financial crimes. The PWD is the government department responsible for public works and government buildings. The case is one of a series of anti-corruption actions involving government property in Bangladesh. The Business Standard reported the filing on 4 October.

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