ACC raids Biman’s head office

Staff Correspondent: The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has raided Balaka, head office of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, in quest of irregularities and corruption.
A team led by ACC Deputy Director Md Salahuddin arrived at Biman’s head office Balaka in Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:00 am yesterday.
From the head office, the ACC team collected documents regarding the alleged irregularities by Biman Bangladesh Airlines in processing two Egypt aircraft in 2009-14 that cost the national flag carrier a loss to the tune of Tk1,100 crore.
ACC Commissioner Dr Md Mozammel Haque Khan told reporters that: We have received a letter from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism in this regard.
On Saturday (May 28), a letter was sent to Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal, CEO and MD of Biman, asking for various documents related to the allegations over the lease of two Boeing 777-200s from EGYPTAIR within 15 working days. On April 24, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism recommended the investigation, as the ministry did not follow up on the investigation report.

The parliamentary body asked the ACC to investigate the matter and take legal action.

The ACC sought a total of 13 documents from the national flag carrier regarding the incident.

The documents include a copy of the physical inspection report, an October 28, 2013 office order regarding the formation of a team for the inspection, the minutes of a meeting of the fleet planning committee regarding the lease held on June 11, 2009, a copy of the Procurement Policy and Delegation of Financial Authority, a copy of the request for proposal (RFP) on Boeing 777-200 ER, and the list of companies that had participated in lease procurement.

According to the parliamentary body, the national flag carrier lost Tk1,100 crores as the two aircraft were leased from EGYPTAIR in 2014.

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

However, a year and a half later, the rented engine was damaged. Following this, another engine was rented which was subsequently damaged.