TK 1,100CR GRAFT ALLEGATION
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday launched a drive at Biman Bangladesh Airlines headquarters to collect information on allegations of causing a loss of over Tk 1,100 crore of government by taking lease of two Boeing 777 aircraft from Egypt Air in 2014.

A team of the anti-graft body led by its Deputy Director Salah Uddin visited the respective department of Biman HQ, Balaka, as part of its investigation into the corruption allegation.
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The ACC officials spoke with the officials concerned of the national carrier during their visit from 11:00am to 3:30pm at the office.

ACC spokesperson M Arif Sadiq said the ACC team went to the Biman office as part of the ACC’s ongoing enquiry and collected relevant documents from the Biman office.

ACC sources said the commission is investigating the leasing of the two Boeing 777 aircrafts following a recommendation by the parliamentary body on the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Leased for five years with stringent conditions that went against Biman’s interests, the extended range planes have remained grounded since 2017 due to engine defects.

Biman finally got rid of the two airplanes in 2019 for which the national air carrier had to pay dearly, found a probe body of the Civil Aviation Ministry.

The amount over Tk1,100 crore spent on these old planes is more than the price of a brand-new plane.

Biman Managing Director and CEO Dr Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal told media that they would extend cooperation to the ACC so that the inquiry work could be carried out without any obstacle.

Earlier, the ACC formed an inquiry team led by Deputy Director Salah Uddin to conduct the inquiry over the graft allegation. The inquiry team on May 28 sent a letter to Biman seeking necessary documents in this regard.