Dhaka, June 22 -- A court in Chattogram has sentenced three former officials of the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) to 44 years in prison in a corruption case dating back nearly three decades.

The BTTB, the state-run telecom body, was later restructured and rebranded as Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL).

Judge Md Mizanur Rahman of the Chattogram Divisional Special Tribunal delivers the verdict on Monday.

The accused were found guilty of embezzling Tk 16.6 million through fraudulent banking transactions carried out in collusion, Md Rezaul Karim Rony, public prosecutor for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), said.

The court convicted them on six separate counts -- under five sections of the Penal Cod...