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AIRCRAFT LEASING GRAFT

ACC sues 23 Biman officials for embezzling Tk 1,161cr

Staff Correspondent
07 Feb 2023 00:00:00 | Update: 07 Feb 2023 00:33:32
ACC sues 23 Biman officials for embezzling Tk 1,161cr

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday filed a case against 23 officials of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd on charges of irregularities in leasing two Boeing 777 airliners from Egypt Air in 2014.

ACC Deputy Director Jesmin Aktar filed the case with its integrated district office in Dhaka-1, said ACC Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain while talking to journalists at the commission’s headquarters in the capital.

The accused include Biman’s Director of Flight Operations Ishrat Ahmed, former deputy chief engineer Shafiqul Alam Siddique, General Manager Abdur Rahman Faruki, former principal engineers Shahid Uddin Mohammad Hanif and Debesh Chowdhury.

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh’s (CAAB) Airworthiness Consultant Golam Sarwar, Biman’s engineer Sadekul Islam Bhuiyan, DGM Kamal Uddin Ahmed, deputy chief engineer ARM Kaiser Zaman, principal engineer Sharif Ruhul Kuddus have also been accused in the case.

The ACC initiated the inquiry about them following a recommendation by the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

The parliamentary committee in April last year recommended the inquiry against Biman after it found alleged irregularities in leasing the two aircrafts in question which caused the national carrier to incur Tk 1,161 crore in loss.

According to sources, Biman had leased the two Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft from Egypt Air on a five-year contract in 2014. But both aircraft suffered engine failure at the end of the first year. The engines were about 12-15 years old. Due to their short airworthiness period, the engines were completely crippled.

Biman had leased the two aircraft for five years but failed to make a profit from them as the planes remained grounded for two years from 2017 due to engine defects.

After operating a flight in February 2015, the engines of one of the aircraft were damaged and Biman rented another engine from Egypt Air to keep it running.

Biman could finally get rid of the two aircraft in 2019 but at a huge cost, a probe body formed by the civil aviation ministry found.

On April 24, last year, the JS body recommended conducting investigation as the ministry did not follow up on the probe report.

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