In 2012, when he was the chairman of Basic Bank, Sheikh Abdul Hai bought a house of 30.25 katha land in Shahid Sarani in Cantonment Bazar area of Dhaka with Tk 110 crore. Its price is shown in two documents as 15 crore 25 lakh taka. According to a report of Bangladesh Bank, he and his brother Sheikh Shahriar alias Panna took a part of those loans as bribes by giving loans in name and name under a single authority.
On October 3 of this year, the ACC has filed a case on charges of embezzlement and money laundering of Tk 94 crore 75 lakh based on the purchase of this house.
In 2009, one year and two months after becoming the chairman of BASIC Bank, six vessels were purchased in the name of Sheikh Abdul Hai’s family firm Eden Fisheries and two in the name of his brother Sheikh Shahriar alias Panna’s firm Crown Fisheries. The market price of these ships is about 100 crore rupees.
Sheikh Abdul Hai has made a new house in the name of his parents in Aruadihi village of Mollahat upazila of Bagerhat. The two-storied house is named ‘Sheikh Hamid and Chabeda Villa’.
When asked about the overall issue, Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), told Prothom Alo that the people of the country now know what Sheikh Abdul Hai has done in Basic Bank, and the government also knows. It is clear that nothing has been done against him because of his direct and indirect political affiliations for so long.
Iftekharuzzaman said whether he had shown the wealth acquired through corruption, land purchase etc. in the income tax return, he may be tested. After that, if corruption is proven, the government can confiscate these assets.
