The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has approved a case against Awami League General Secretary and former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader and three others for allegedly causing a financial loss of Tk585.29 crore to the government in the Karnaphuli tunnel project with dishonest intent.
Three other individuals are Bangladesh Bridge Authority’s former secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam, former chief engineer Kabir Ahmed, and former Joint Secretary Alim Uddin Ahmed.
ACC Director General (Prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain confirmed the matter on Thursday while addressing a press conference held at the commission's head office in Dhaka.
Reviewing the collected records, it was found that foreign experts were appointed in violation of relevant sections of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2006. The accused allegedly appointed preferred individuals as experts to benefit themselves and others by including them in 33 tasks related to three components of the project – service area, monitoring software, and a tugboat, according to the commission.
It was found that no formal recommendations were made to include these three components in the project by the experts concerned. Despite this, the accused approved these non-essential components—bypassing the negotiated prices determined by the negotiation committee and ignoring the absence of recommendations from foreign experts, said the ACC.
As a result, an amount of $59.80 million (equivalent to Tk585,29,00,000—calculated at $1 = Tk97.877 at the time of payment) was allegedly wasted, causing financial losses to the government and the public.
The ACC has approved a case against the accused under Sections 409/109 of the Penal Code and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.