Bangladesh's Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has brought charges against five bankers and four others for their part in an alleged US$32 million letter of credit (L/C) fraud.

The bankers include Janata Bank Limited's general manager and four of his colleagues.

Ghost transactions

According to prosecutors, the five Janata bank officials opened seven L/Cs for a fake company known as Dhaka Trading House.

It ostensibly arranged to import several shipments of sugar and chickpeas between November 2010 and April 2012.

In reality, the firm did not import any goods according to court documents.

Embezzlement

The ACC alleges that the five bank officials along with the others accused embezzled over US$32 million released by the bank against the L/Cs.

The accused include Janata Bank general manager, Manzurul Alam, its former assistant general manager, Shamim Ahmed Khan, senior executive officer, Mashiur Rahman, assistant general manager, Zahirul Islam and the owner of Dhaka Trading House, Tipu Sultan.

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