The Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday filed 26 cases against 35 top officials of Sonali Bank and five business entities for misappropriating more than Tk 345 crore of depositors' money.
The names of Hall-Mark Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud and General Manager Tushar Ahmed were also included in the cases on charge of abetting the five companies in embezzling the amount.
ACC Deputy Director Mir Mohammad Zainul Abedin Shebly filed the cases with Ramna Police Station under anti-money laundering and corruption prevention acts, ACC sources said.
The five firms and Hall-Mark Group swindled a total of Tk 3,547 crore from Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch with the help of some bank officials using forged documents between October last year and May this year.
Of the amount, Hall-Mark took Tk 2,686 crore showing fake documents.
Of the five firms, T and Brothers swindled Tk 317.52 crore, Paragon Knit Composite Ltd and its sister concern Tk 13.58 crore, DN Sports and its sister concern Tk 2.81 crore, Nakshi Knit and Composite Ltd and its sister concerns Tk 10.81 crore and Khanjahan Ali Sweater Ltd Tk 1.14 crore.
In May, a Bangladesh Bank probe revealed serious irregularities at Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch in sanctioning and disbursing loans of Tk 3,547 crore to the five firms and Hall-Mark.
On October 4, the ACC filed 11 cases against 27 top officials of Sonali Bank and Hall-Mark for misappropriating over Tk 1,568 crore [funded portion of Tk 2,686 crore].
On August 30, Sonali Bank suspended 17 of its officials over the fraud.
Source: The Daily Star
