Reliance Finance and International Leasing used to pay Tk 500,000 to Tk 700,000 to the inspection officers of Bangladesh Bank to conceal the irregularities of the financial institutions. The general manager of the financial institutions and markets department of the central bank at the time, Shah Alam, used to get Tk 200,000 per month. Former deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury used to ‘manage’ the irregularities and corruption of the financial institutions.
With the help of these officers, Prashanta Kumar (PK) Halder has taken several financial institutions to the brink of extinction. As a result, depositors of at least four financial institutions are not getting back their money. One of the institutions decided on liquidation and the court appointed new chairmen in two others.
This information was revealed by Rashedul Haque, former managing director (MD) of International Leasing, in his confessional statement in court. He has been accused of embezzling Tk 710 million (Tk 71 crore) as an associate of PK Halder. He was arrested on 23 January from Segun Bagicha in the capital city by a team led by Md Gulshan Anwar, deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Commission. ACC took him on five-day remand for interrogation. On the third of the remand, he gave a confessional statement in the court of the Dhaka’s metropolitan magistrate Baki Billah on Tuesday.
When contacted over phone, Shah Alam, the then general manager and current executive director of Bangladesh Bank’s institutions and market department, listened to the issue first. He then said, “I am out now and can’t talk.” Then he hung up the phone. Former deputy governor SK Sur’s mobile was found switched off. The court recently banned him from leaving the country.
Executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, Sirajul Islam, told Prothom Alo Wednesday night, “If this took place, it is wrong. However, the institution will not take the responsibility for the activities of an individual.”
Rashedul’s confessional statement
Rashedul Haque said in his confessional statement that PK Halder had a close relationship with SK Sur Chowdhury, the then deputy governor of the Bangladesh Bank. Sur Chowdhury was one of the primary sources of Halder’s power. PK Halder used to ‘manage’ the irregularities through him. Apart from this, two officials from the rank of assistant director to joint director used to come twice a year to inspect the International Leasing from the Inspection Department of Bangladesh Bank. They were bribed Tk 500,000 to Tk 700,000 each time to cover up the irregularities and give positive reports.
When asked about the misdemeanours of the central bank officials and the overall scenario, Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, told Prothom Alo, “It is unfortunate if there has been such bribery. The guilty persons will have to be investigated and administrative and legal actions must be taken against them. If these issues are not resolved with a firm hand, the financial institutions will collapse further.”
Regarding PK Halder, Rashedul Haque said in his confessional statement that when he was working as the senior vice president (SVP), Runai Ahmed, Al Mamun Sohag and Rafsan Chowdhury also worked there. They used to prepare the loan proposals. PK Halder was the managing director of Reliance then. He exercised sole authority there. When people came to him, he used to approve the loan by presenting the proposals made by Runai, Al Mamun and Rafsan to the board. The board members were aware of the corruption. Mumtaz Uddin Ahmed, a teacher of Dhaka University was also on the board.
PK Halder ran the company
In his deposition, Rashedul Haque said that although he was the MD, PK Haldar used to run the company. PK Haldar brought Runai, Al Mamun Sohag and Rafsan Chowdhury to international leasing. They used to ‘deal’ directly with PK Haldar. Runai was the head of business. The head of treasury Avik Sinha assisted them in their deals.
Sources said Rashedul Haque was the MD when PK Haldar took the control of International Leasing and amassed about Tk 20 billion (Tk 2000 crore). Mahbub Jamil, special assistant to the former caretaker government’s chief adviser, was the chairman of International Leasing until 2015. Until then the company was in a strong position. At the end of 2015, Hal International, BR International, Nature Enterprise and New Tech Enterprise took control of the International Leasing by buying shares. PK Haldar himself owns 80 per cent stake in Hal International and his brother Pritish Kumar Haldar owns 10 per cent. Thus, after taking control of the company, Tk 20.29 billion (Tk 2,029 crore) was withdrawn in the names of 30 companies anonymously. Of this, PK Haldar and his associates benefited from Tk 15.96 billion (Tk 1,596 crore). PK Haldar is now out of the country. However, the others are still in the office. Some of them are also on the board of the firm.
Rashedul Haque further said in his deposition that although PK Haldar himself was a shareholder of the company, he was not a director of the board. PK Haldar used to make loan proposals through Runai and Sohag and present them to the board with his signature. He would influence the board and get the loan approved. If the board members objected, he would persuade the board members himself. Once the loan was approved, the company that took out the loan would release the money to another company as per his or their wishes. The entire amount would go to PK Haldar again. Most of those companies were owned by the relatives of PK Haldar. Despite not being a board member, PK Haldar attended most of the board meetings.
Meanwhile, the High Court wanted to know the details of the officials who have been in charge of money laundering and supervision of financial institutions, including the internal audit and inspection department of Bangladesh Bank. On 21 January, the court directed Bangladesh Bank to submit the list of officials in charge of the concerned issues in central bank from 1 January, 2006 to 1 January 2020 by 15 February.
According to Rashedul’s statement, after the loan was approved, PK Haldar’s instruction was to send the money in another account, not the customer’s account. Money was sent in the name of Barna, SA Enterprise, Arabic Enterprise, IMEXCO, Hal International, P&L International, Moon Enterprise, Konica, Okaya and Wintel International. Originally, PK Haldar was the owner of these companies, anonymously. Rashedul came to know about this in 2017. Apart from this, two companies named Zenith and Lipro International were given Tk 1.25 billion (125 crore) on the instructions of PK Haldar without the approval of the board. PK Haldar said he would take approval from the board later. However, he did not take approval at all. Apart from this, on the instructions of PK Haldar, Tk 2 billion (Tk 200 crore) was given to him from the treasury department without the approval of the board.
Rashedul said, among the board members of International Leasing Nowsharul Islam, Mumtaz Begum, Basudeb Bhattacharya and Papia Bhattacharya used to take loans in the name of their companies like MTB, MSP Pharma, Nutritional, G&G Enterprise and transferred them to several firms of PK Halder instead of depositing these. The loans were given in the name of various companies including Annan Chemical, Rahman Chemical, Northern Jute Manufacturing without any verification, and were later transferred to PK Haldar’s company.
The names used for embezzlement
Rashedul Haque said in his statement that loans were given to several so-called companies of AKM Shahid Reza, the former chairman and director of Mercantile Bank, on PK Halder’s direction. Besides, Siddiqur Rahman, the owner of Simtex; Irfan Uddin Ahmed, former MD of Bank Asia; chairman of People’s Leasing, Ujjal Kumar Nandi, Rajib Som and Kazi Momrez Mahmud; owner of the Design and Source Md Jahangir Alam; Sandeep Corporation’s owner Swapan Kumar Mistry, Uttam Kumar Mistry, Sukhada Property owner Amitabh Adhikari, Moon Enterprise owner Shankha Bepari, Hal International owner Sushmita Saha, Gopal Chandra Ganguly, Atashi Mridha, Amal Chandra Das, Ratam Kumar Biswas were associates of PK Halder. He used to create fake firms and letters of credit using the names of his associates’ and would withdraw the money himself. Most of these companies existed on papers only.
According to a central bank investigation, PK Halder amassed about Tk 35 billion (3,500 crore) from several financial institutions. The four companies taken over by PK Halder are International Leasing, People’s Leasing, FAS Finance and Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company (BIFC). Of these, liquidators have been appointed liquidate People’s Leasing. The court has appointed new chairmen for both the International Leasing and BFIC.
This report appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ashish Basu
