Police arrested economist and former chairman of Janata Bank, Professor Abul Barkat, on Thursday.
Earlier on 20 February, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had filed a case against Abul Barkat and several others over allegations of embezzling Tk 297 crore in the name of AnonTex Group.
The ACC filed the case alleging that former Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman and Abul Barakat jointly granted loans to 22 companies of the AnonTex Group through forgery.
The arrest sparked discussions on Abul Barakat. We take a look at the rise and fall of the economist.
Who is Professor Abul Barakat?
Abul Barakat is an economist and former chairman of the Economics Department at the University of Dhaka, and currently serves as the honorary chief adviser of the Human Development Research Centre (HDRC) – a research organisation focusing on socioeconomic issues.
He also served as president of the Bangladesh Economic Association.
On September 9, 2009, he was appointed as the chairman of Janata Bank PLC for a three-year term, and was later reappointed for a second term, serving a total of five years before stepping down in September 2014.
What is in the statement of the case?
According to the case statement, a borrower, despite not being the actual owner of the mortgaged land, falsely claimed ownership of and mortgaged it. Despite the absence of any infrastructure on the land, it was deceptively declared as having a factory, and its value was grossly inflated, from Tk 3 crore to 164 crore.
Based on this inflated valuation, a loan of Tk 297 crore was approved and disbursed from Janata Bank, which was later embezzled.
The main accused in this case is Suprabh Spinning Limited Managing Director Md Anwar Hossain.
Following the statement, 20 others were also accused, who helped him to manipulate the value of the mortgaged land.
AnonTex Group Chairman Md Younus Badal also allegedly transferred over Tk50 crore from a Tk180 crore loan sanctioned in the name of Suprabh Spinning Limited to his own company and misappropriated the funds.
The case statement also mentioned that the loan approval and embezzlement were facilitated by the former chairman of Janata Bank, Abul Barkat, and board members Jamal Uddin Ahmed, Imdadul Haque, Nagibul Islam Dipu, RM Debnath, Abu Naser, Sangeeta Ahmed, and Nitai Chandra Nath.
In addition, the case documents state that Bangladesh Bank's former assistant director Ismat Ara Begum, former deputy governor Abu Hena Mohammad Razi Hasan, and former governor Atiur Rahman assisted in approving the loan in favour of a mysterious new businessman.
More allegations against Professor Abul Barkat
Earlier, multiple corruption allegations had been raised against Professor Abul Barkat.
In 2018, in an interview with Prothom Alo, then finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith commented on Abul Barkat, saying, "Barkat is the one who ruined Janata Bank. It used to be the best bank in the country."
The report by Prothom Alo revealed that over Tk5,000 crore was given to the AnonTex Group through various deceptive means.
Although the loans were shown as being issued to 22 separate entities, all were shown separately, and all were actually under AnonTex Group.
The group's chairman, Md Younus Badal, was the sole beneficiary of these loans. This marked the beginning of Janata Bank's descent into scandal during Abul Barkat's tenure, entering the chapter of scandal during the time of his tenure.
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