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Gas workers 'stole millions'
29/01/2008 12:33 - (SA)
Dhaka - More than 2 000 staff at Bangladesh's biggest state-owned gas distributor were involved in siphoning millions of dollars from the company, the head of a government anti-graft body said on Tuesday.
Employees of the Titas Gas Distribution Company pocketed bribes to under-bill thousands of factories and homes, said the head of a government task force probing the company, which supplies about 80% of Bangladesh's gas.
Colonel Hasan, who uses one name, said so far 127 workers at Titas Gas had agreed to return four billion taka worth of assets bought with the stolen money.
"But it is a tiny fraction of the money these people have made by under-billing the amount of gas a company or an individual household has consumed," he said.
"It's the tip of the iceberg. We have found that almost 80% of the company's 2 800 employees are corrupt. They bought flats, factories, land and shops with the stolen money."
The country's military-backed government launched an investigation into the company last year as part of a nationwide anti-graft drive it began in February 2007.
The government, which came to power in January 2007 following months of political instability, has detained more than 150 politicians, including former ministers accused of accepting bribes for official duties.
In October it widened the drive to state-owned companies.
- AFP
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