The Dhaka Special Judge Court-2 on Thursday framed charges against detained former Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Sitangshu Kumar Sur Chowdhury, also known as SK Sur Chowdhury, in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission for failing to submit his wealth statement to the commission.
Judge Ayesha Nasrin of the court framed the charges and fixed January 20 for the commencement of his trial through recording testimonies of prosecution witnesses, said bench assistant Dewan Ashiq.
SK Sur heard the charges from the dock.
He pleaded not guilty and sought justice.
According to the case documents, the ACC issued a notice asking SK Sur to submit a detailed statement of all movable and immovable assets owned by him and his dependents, both in his name and under the names of others, along with their liabilities, sources of income, and means of acquisition.
He personally received the notice on October 27, 2024, but failed to submit the wealth statement within the stipulated 21 working days.
Later, the commission鈥檚 deputy director Nazmul Hossain filed the case against him on December 23, 2024 for non-submission of the wealth statement.
On August 25 this year, the commission submitted the charge sheet in the case.
After retiring as deputy governor in January 2018, SK Sur acted as an advisor to the Bangladesh Bank. On January 14 this year, an ACC team arrested SK Sur Chowdhury from Segunbagicha in the capital.
SK Sur鈥檚 name surfaced in the Prosanto Kumar Halder (PK Halder) financial scandal in July 2021, prompting the National Board of Revenue to order a freeze of the bank accounts belonging to SK Sur and his wife.
The ACC also interrogated SK Sur on March 29, 2022.
During his tenure as a deputy governor, several financial institutions, including International Leasing, were involved in a loan scam exceeding Tk 30 billion linked to PK Halder.
SK Sur was accused of aiding PK Halder in this corruption.
