A Dhaka court has directed a two-day jail-gate interrogation of Nassa Group Chairman and former EXIM Bank chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder in connection with two separate corruption cases involving the embezzlement of Tk857 crore and Tk615 crore.

The order was issued on 30 October by Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Sabbir Faiz following a hearing on petitions filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

ACC Public Prosecutor Khandaker Shamim Hossain told reporters that the investigating officers had requested permission to question Nazrul while he remains in prison custody. “We supported the petition, while the defence opposed it and sought bail,” he added.

After hearing both sides, the court approved the two-day interrogation order. Nazrul was not present at the hearing.

According to the ACC’s petition, Nazrul and other accused officials allegedly misused their authority, engaged in criminal misconduct, and breached trust by recommending, approving, and disbursing loans illegally.

In the first case, the officials are accused of embezzling Tk857.93 crore from EXIM Bank and transferring the funds through multiple accounts to hide their source and ownership.

This case names Nazrul and 20 others. In a second case, Nazrul and 29 others are accused of similar abuse of power and breach of trust, resulting in the embezzlement of Tk615.75 crore from the bank.

The accused reportedly moved and converted the embezzled funds to conceal their origin.

Nazrul was arrested in October last year from the Gulshan area of Dhaka and has remained in custody since then.