The Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) in Bangladesh has filed 15 cases against the chairman and managing director of a clothing factory on charges of defrauding a local bank out of around US$2.3 million.

Officials of the Uttara Bank Limited (UBL) also face charges of embezzlement in the same case that involves the alleged fabrication of 15 letters of credit (L/Cs).

Accused

Those accused in the cases include the chairman and managing director of Mipur-based Messrs Apparel Sources Limited, Abdullah Al-Mamun and an associate of the clothing firm, Saiful Alam.

Bank officials facing charges in the same matter include Khan Ahsan Ertazul Islam, branch manager of UBL Dar es Salam Road, and the head of foreign exchange and principal officer at the same branch, Mizanur Rahman and Saiful Islam respectively.

Embezzlement

BAC investigators say the owner of the garment factory and some UBL officials were directly involved with embezzlement connected with 15 fraudulent L/Cs opened between 2000 and 2002.

According to the charges brought by the BAC, the bank officials and the factory owner embezzled large amounts of money from the proceeds of the L/Cs without exporting a single garment from the factory.

Suspect L/Cs

The investigators say Al-Mamun and Alam, with the assistance of some UBL officials - including the Dar es Salam Road branch manager - opened seven fake L/Cs between 2001 and 2002 worth a total of about US$1.8 million.

The UBL branch opened a further eight export L/Cs between 2000 and 2002 against overdraft worth about US$500,000 according to the investigators.

Back-to-back L/Cs

The bank officials even issued back-to-back L/Cs against the garment factory and approved overdrafts for various amounts of money BAC officials are reported as saying.

As well as fake documentation and corruption, BAC investigators are said to be concerned with practices such as the sale in local markets of fabrics imported duty-free on the pretext that they would be used to make garments for export.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.