Professor Abul Barkat, former chairman of Janata Bank Limited, has been sent to jail in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over the alleged embezzlement of Tk297 crore through fraudulent loans in the name of a fake company.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana issued the order on Friday (July 11), after Barakat was produced before the court by ACC Assistant Director Mohammad Shahjahan Miraj, the investigation officer in the case. 

Later, ACC official requested that the accused be kept in jail.

Barkat was arrested on Thursday from his residence on Road No. 3 in Dhanmondi by a team of detectives from Dhaka Metropolitan Police. As the designated Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court was closed for the weekly holiday, he was produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, which later ordered his imprisonment.

According to the case statement, filed by ACC Deputy Director Nazmul Hossain on 20 February, Barkat and 22 others are accused of colluding to misappropriate funds by approving and disbursing loans based on grossly inflated valuations of mortgaged land.

Investigators said the accused showed structures and factories on plots where no installations existed, even before the borrower had formally acquired the land. A property bought for Tk3.04 crore was falsely valued at Tk164.82 crore.

The case details allege that the loans were sanctioned and withdrawn in violation of Bangladesh Bank’s BRPD Circular No. 05/2005 and related Memoranda of Understanding guidelines. The funds were disbursed through Janata Bank’s Janata Bhaban Corporate Branch in Dhaka.

The ACC has charged the accused with fraud, forgery, misuse of official powers, and breach of trust, causing a loss of nearly Tk297 crore to the state-owned bank.

Further legal proceedings are underway.

MSK/