Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and others allegedly embezzled around Tk63 crore from Islami Bank's Jubilee Road branch in Chattogram by showing Aramit Cement AGM Jahangir Alam as a supplier and businessman.
TBS Report
27 October, 2026, 01:25 pm
Last modified: 27 October, 2026, 01:29 pm
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, his wife Rukmila Zaman and 13 others over the alleged embezzlement and laundering of Tk63.77 crore through 27 fraudulent investment deals involving Aramit Cement and Islami Bank Bangladesh.
ACC Deputy Director Moshiur Rahman confirmed the filing of the case at the Chattogram-1 integrated district office today (27 October).
Saifuzzaman and others had allegedly embezzled around Tk63 crore from Islami Bank's Jubilee Road branch in Chattogram by showing Aramit's Assistant General Manager (AGM) Jahangir Alam as a supplier and businessman, he told The Business Standard.
ACC Deputy Assistant Director Md Rubel Hossain filed the case, based on an investigation into alleged fraud involving the bank's Jubilee Road branch between October 2018 and November 2020.
According to the first information report (FIR), the accused allegedly used forged invoices and fictitious supply documents to obtain funds through 27 Bai-Murabaha investment deals worth Tk63.77 crore. Bai-Murabaha means a sale of goods under an arrangement whereby the seller is obliged to disclose to the buyer the cost of goods either on a cash or deferred payment basis, with a defined and agreed profit included in the sale price.
The accused include Rukmila Zaman, managing director of Aramit Cement and former chairman of United Commercial Bank (UCB); Md Shah Alam, chief financial officer of Aramit Cement and a former UCB director; and several officials of Islami Bank's Jubilee Road branch.
The ACC investigation found that Aramit Cement obtained approval for a Tk350 crore working capital loan in 2017. Subsequently, 54 Bai-Murabaha deals were used to disburse Tk205.07 crore, of which 27 transactions covered by the case allegedly involved fraudulent claims.
The case alleges that Md Jahangir Alam, an Aramit Group employee and assistant general manager in accounts, was presented as the owner of Classic Trading, a purported supplier of raw materials to Aramit Cement.
Investigators found no office, warehouse or evidence of import and export activities at the address listed for Classic Trading, according to the case documents.
The ACC alleges that forged invoices claiming supplies of clinker, gypsum, limestone, slag and other materials were submitted to the bank despite no actual delivery of goods.
Bank officials allegedly processed the transactions without properly verifying the documents.
The funds were subsequently transferred through multiple bank accounts, including those of Classic Trading and other entities, before reaching Aramit Cement and related accounts, the case alleges.
The ACC headquarters approved the filing of the case on 19 October. The commission said further individuals could be brought under the law if investigators found evidence of their involvement.