ACC to probe corruption allegations at HSIA T3

Dhaka : The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), on December 29, announced to investigate allegations of widespread corruption and financial irregularities at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport's Third Terminal project.

The announcement was made during ACC's meeting following media reports of corruption and their own primary investigations.

ACC said, their primary investigation reports suggest, officials involved in the project engaged in numerous fraudulent practices that led to the excessive escalation of the project cost to a staggering BDT 22,000 crore-initially estimated at BDT 7,000 crore.

They said, allegations also include fund misappropriation through misclassifying local equipment procurement as foreign purchases, manipulating soil testing results, and altering project designs to siphon off BDT 900 crore.

Furthermore, major portions of the project were reportedly sold to contractors for commission-based trading, while lower-quality Chinese and Korean machinery replaced European-standard equipment specified in the tender, added ACC's report.

The ACC report also highlights severe irregularities, including wasteful ceiling work and unnecessary tasks allegedly undertaken to appease former Prime Minister, resulting in an additional loss of BDT 12 crore.

A syndicate is believed to have embezzled BDT 4,000 crore from the project overall, the commission's report also claimed.