Dhaka: The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday filed 18 cases in connection with the swindling of around Tk 747 crore from state-run Basic Bank Limited.

The cases were filed with city’s Gulshan, Motijheel and Shahbagh police stations in the evening, said ACC public relations officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya.

ACC deputy director Mahbubul Alam and deputy assistant directors AKM Fazle Hossain and Zainal Abedin filed the cases against 153 people, including former managing director Kazi Fakhrul Islam, for allegedly plundering the Tk 747 crore from Gulshan and Motijheel local branches of Basic Bank.

Although 153 people were sued in the cases, the number of actual accused would be less as many are common accused in the cases.

Of the cases, eight were filed with Gulshan police station while five with Motijheel and Shahbagh police stations each.

The ACC will also file 38 more cases soon for allegedly swindling over Tk 1,352 crore from the bank.

On 9 September, the ACC approved proposals to file 54 cases against 80-85 individuals, including bank officials. Almost inexplicably though, they do not include the key graft suspect in many people’s eyes - ex-chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu.

However, former managing director Kazi Fakhrul Islam and some senior bank officials have already been sued.

According to an inquiry of Bangladesh Bank, about Tk 4,500 crore was swindled out from Basic Bank in the last six years when Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachhu served as its chairman.

But a three-member ACC probe team, led by deputy director Syed Iqbal Hossain, found that about Tk 1,000 crore was plundered from the bank by 54 private companies while taking out loans presenting fake documents. It also found some bank officials were involved in the loan scam.

The probe team submitted its report to the commission on 31 August, seeking approval to file 54 cases based on their investigation.