A court has adjourned a corruption case against 21 former and current Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG, Dhaka) officials until September 10. The case centres on allegations of misuse of power and defrauding the state-owned carrier for personal enrichment. However, on May 28, Judge Md Asaduzzaman of Dhaka's Metropolitan Judge's Court granted the adjournment after counsel for the defendants made multiple applications, including asking for a delay.
The allegations relate to two leased B777-200ERs acquired by Biman Bangladesh in 2014 that came fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines with limited airworthiness periods left on them. Subsequently, there were several engine failure incidents, which required the airline to source replacement engines at a significant financial cost. The two aircraft were S2-AHL (msn 32630) and S2-AHK (msn 32629), leased from EgyptAir (MS, Cairo International) for five years. It is alleged that "mismanagement" of the leases cost the Bangladeshi taxpayer BDT11 billion taka (USD102.6 million).
The matter was glossed over for several years until a parliamentary committee referred it to Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission for further investigation last year. That agency laid charges against the officials earlier this year. Dhaka's Daily Star outlet reports that 23 individuals were charged and 21 bailed. The recent court hearing dealt with the bailed defendants, who all remain at liberty until at least September.
