Attorney General Mahbubey Alam has said that FBI and Canadian police have found evidence of bribery in the Niko graft case.
He made the comment on Thursday (Nov 22) night while talking to the media at his home.
Canadian registered company, Niko, had been trying to take lease of some gas fields, he said and added, “But the company resorted to dishonest means, influenced several key members of the then government and took Chhatak gas field, which was shown as abandoned though it was a virgin field filled with gas.”
Canadian Royal Mounted Police, CRMP, launched investigation in 2005 and found that Niko sent money to Bangladesh via several methods and bribed government officials.
The Niko graft case was lodged in Bangladesh in 2008 by the ACC and is currently ongoing at special court–9, said the attorney general.
“In 2017, we requested FBI and the Canadian authority to send the findings of their report and they provided their investigation report under mutual assistance.”
This investigation showed how money came via Cayman Islands, UK and Switzerland and then came to Bangladesh to be paid as bribes to government officials, he added.
“Those who deceived the country by showing Chhatak as a minor gas field are the criminals of this case.”
“This case does not have the name of current PM Sheikh Hasina, because this incident had its roots after 2002.”
Anti Corruption Commission, ACC, director, Mohammad Mahbubul Alam, lodged a case against Khaleda Zia and four others on Dec 9, 2007 for causing huge financial damage to the country through the dubious deal with Niko.
A charge sheet was submitted on May 5, 2008 against 11 persons including Khaleda Zia which accused them for incurring a loss of Tk 137.77 billion for Bangladesh. The case is ongoing at special court -9.