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WB suggested freezing Abul's bank accounts

Says ACC chairman

Staff Correspondent
Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Ghulam Rahman yesterday said the World Bank had earlier this year suggested that the commission seize
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the bank accounts and travel documents of former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain and high officials of his family-owned company SAHCO.
The WB made the suggestion sometime after the ACC sent it a synopsis of its investigation report on SAHCO's involvement in the process of appointing consultants for the Padma bridge project. It did that without raising any question about the authenticity of the probe report, the ACC chief said.
The anti-graft body, he noted, could not however work on the WB suggestion because its own laws did not permit it to do so.
The commission sent its investigation report to the WB on February 2 this year. In the report, it said the allegation was not proved by documentary evidence and other proof. It also read, “If any tangible evidence on the allegation emerges subsequently, we will reopen the enquiry process."
The ACC chief was holding a press conference at the commission headquarters in the capital's Segunbagicha. Journalists there were given a dossier that included a statement from the commission, copies of the letters written to the WB integrity vice-president and a synopsis of the probe report to theWB.
The commission, however, did not make public the WB's letters, terming those “strictly confidential”.
On Saturday, the global lender pulled out of the Padma bridge project, citing a corruption conspiracy involving government officials, executives of the Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin and other individuals.
In a statement, it also alleged the ACC was not sincere in investigating the corruption allegation and its response was not satisfactory.
About the WB suggestion, Ghulam Rahman said it was not possible for the ACC to follow the suggestion, as the ACC Act 2004 does not allow the commission to conduct "search and seizure” during investigation into any allegation.
Bank statements can only be summoned upon the court's permission when an investigation is launched after the ACC files a case.
“All this, however, does not seem relevant when the
allegation is regarding the appointment of a 'silent agent'," he observed.
Terming the WB's allegation untrue, the ACC chairman said the decision of cancelling the fund for the bridge project was "unjust, unexpected and unwise”.
He said the WB on September 21 sent a letter to the finance minister alleging that Abul Hossain and high officials of SAHCO had pressed for the appointment of SAHCO as a “commission agent" regarding the selection of contractors' prequalification for the main bridge's construction.
The ACC was also given a copy of the letter and then the ACC appointed a deputy director as the investigation officer. After the investigator submitted his findings, the ACC approved it through examination, he mentioned.
At the press briefing, ACC's legal adviser Anisul Huq alleged that the WB's blaming the ACC for its “unsatisfactory response” was nothing but an excuse to cancel the fimd for the bridge project.
"It was premeditated by the World Bank that it would not fund the Padma bridge project. That is why the Bank authorities have raised an excuse that the ACC did not respond to them,” he claimed.
The WB was also blamed by the ACC for not cooperating with the commission properly.
"The ACC co-operated with the World Bank properly by providing all necessary information it sought,” Ghulam Rahman said.
"When the matter was published in the Bangladesh media, we voluntarily launched an investigation into the matter on September 19 last year. The Bank did not inform us,” he said.
On the basis of the World Bank's allegation, the Canadian police in November last year launched an investigation against the Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin for alleged irregularities in its bidding to be the bridge's consultant firm, the ACC chief said.
In April this year, he added, the WB handed over some "Supplemental Referral of Information" to the ACC related to the appointment of consultant for the bridge project.
Following the WB's information, Canadian police seized a notebook of Ramesh
Saha, a former vice-president of SNC-Lavalin, who was arrested by the Canadian police. Saha had mentioned the “percentage to be allotted to specific persons in connection with the award of the contract”, said the ACC chief.
"The World Bank provided the names of some persons on the basis of the notebook, although the names in the notebook were mentioned symbolically," the ACC chairman said, adding: "The WB did not provide any more information but the possible names.”
Ghulam Rahman said, “Following this, the commission strengthened its investigations and restructured the probe team led by a senior director. It has also questioned several individuals and the process is underway.
“The commission does not find it right to conclude without any more evidence that the persons in the list asked for bribes, and it will not be lawful too.”
Regarding the Canadian police, he said until date they had not provided any information that might prove that any Bangladeshi individual was involved in any corruption.
In response to a query, Ghulam Rahman said the Canadian authorities had informed the commission that they would no more assist the anti-graft body with any information “as no information remains undisclosed in Bangladesh".