An owner of two of Bangladesh’s leading newspapers has received substantial amount of money from scam-tainted Hall-Mark Group founder Tanvir Mahmud and his wife Jesmin Islam.
The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has started investigations into these money transfers on the basis of a detailed report filed by the financial intelligence unit of Bangladesh Bank.
The report indicates that Tanvir Mahmud and his wife Jesmin Islam (Hall-Mark’s chairperson) have transferred more than Tk 165 million into the account of Transcom Group Director Saifur Rahman.
Transcom, however, says the payments were received after sale of some land to the Hall-Mark Group
Its Legal Division chief Mohammad Fakhruzzaman called bdnews24.com to provide its version of the fund transfer.
“Saifur Rahman inherited some lands near the Hall-Mark Group office. We have sold lands to them and the funds came from those sale. We have the registered deed as well as the sales deed,” he told bdnews24.com.
“From what I have heard, this fact that the money came from sale of land is missing (in the BB FIU report).
“If the Bangladesh Bank report is compared with Saifur Rahman’s tax files then it would be clear why and how the transactions took place,” said Fakhruzzaman.
Transcom holds majority stake in two companies, Media Star and Media World, which respectively publish top Bengali daily ‘Prothom Alo’ and English newspaper ‘The Daily Star’.
Saifur Rahman is the brother of Transcom’s Chairman and Chief Executive Latifur Rahman.
In its report, the central bank’s financial intelligence unit says that Saifur Rahman’s multiple bank accounts have been favoured with substantial fund transfers from Hall-Mark and its sister concerns.
bdnews24.com has obtained a copy of the report, which has been handed over to the ACC.
ACC Commissioner Shahab Uddin told bdnews24.com that Hall-Mark has been prosecuted by the anti-corruption watchdog. “Now we have started a probe into these fund transfers.”
Tanvir Mahmud, Hall-Mark’s managing director has been in prison for nearly two years in a money laundering scam involving Tk 25 billion. Hall-Mark’s chairperson Jesmin Islam is out on bail now.
Transcom, involved in various kinds of imports, is into the media business for more than two decades now.
Media Star publishes ‘Prothom Alo’ and runs ‘ABC Radio’ that was bought over from daily ‘Manabzamin’ Chief Editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury.
Media World publishes ‘The Daily Star’ and a weekly magazine, ‘Shaptahik 2000’.
Bangladesh Bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit report says Tk 166.2 million has been deposited into various bank accounts of Saifur Rahman and the funds have originated from Tanvir Mahmud, Jesmin Islam and Hall-Mark’s sister concern Bobby Spinning Mills Ltd.
Part of these funds was converted into Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDR) in banks and was used for financing purchase of two plots of lands measuring 12.38 decimals and 8.25 decimals at Dhaka’s Purbachal, it says.
The rest of the funds were used for purchase of various marketable securities and transferred to other persons and organisations.
“The funds received from Hall-Mark and its sister concerns by Saifur Rahman have been moved around deftly to conceal its source. This point to layering, which is resorted to by those involved in money laundering,” reads the central bank report.
The ACC has been involved in the Hall-Mark scam enquiry since it erupted in 2012 after reports that the company had drawn Tk 25 billion from the state-owned Sonali Bank and siphoned it off.
Saifur Rahman
Twenty-seven persons, including Tanvir Mahmud and Jesmin Islam, have been named as accused in the charge sheet submitted by the ACC.
Saifur Rahman’s Hall-Mark connection
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Bangladesh Bank says in its ‘special report’ that several bank accounts of Saifur Rahman have received substantial funds from Tanvir Mahmud and Jesmin Islam.
Rahman’s accounts in Banani Branch of Dhaka Bank and Dutch-Bangla Bank, Motijheel Branch of Standard Chartered Bank, Gulshan Branches of Prime Bank and HSBC bank have been checked and analysed for assessing these fund transfers.
Dutch-Bangla Bank
The FIU report indicates nine transactions between Aug 4, 2010 and Mar 1, 2012, during which Tk 23.1 million were transferred through pay orders to Saifur Rahman’s Dutch-Bangla accounts by Hall-Mark’s sister concern Bobby Spinning Mills.
An amount of Tk 10 million was converted into FDRs with the same branch.
Another Tk 39.2 million was credited to Saifur Rahman’s accounts from those of Jesmin Islam and Tanvir Mahmud, the bulk of which was transferred to M/S Nimbus Ltd and one Nure Alam for purchase of real estate.
Dhaka Bank
Jesmin Islam and Tanvir Mahmud issued two pay-orders in favour of Saifur Rahman worth Tk 20 million and Tk 19 million from its Rokeya Sarani Branch.
These were deposited in Saifur Rahman’s savings account in Dutch-Bangla Bank’s Gulshan Branch. Later Tk 20 million was transferred to Rahman’s account in Dhaka Bank’s Banani Branch.
Standard Chartered Bank
The report scanned 22 transactions in Saifur Rahman’s savings and current accounts in Standard Chartered Bank’s Motijheel Branch between Apr 22, 2011 and April 29, 2012. These transactions pertain to fund transfers from Jesmin Islam and Tanvir Mahmud.
On Apr 22, 2011, Tk 23.1 million was transferred to Saifur Rahman’s account by a pay order drawn by Bobby Spinning Mills from its account in Motijheel Branch of the state-owned Janata Bank.
Prior to that pay order, Rahman’s account balance was Tk 1.45 million.
Rahman transferred Tk 10 million to Imtiaz Hussain Securities Ltd from this account after three weeks of the Tk 23.1 million deposit.
On Jan 22, 2012, Tk 53.8 million was credited to Rahman’s account from Hall-Mark Chairperson Jesmin Islam’s account.
The next day, Tk 10 million was immediately transferred to Imtiaz Hussain Securities Ltd and Tk 43.8 million was credited to Rahman’s savings account with the bank the following day.
Four days later, M/s Shikaju Engineering Works was paid Tk 10 million from Rahman’s account.
HSBC Bank
Tanvir Mahmud issued a pay-order of Tk 30 million favouring Saifur Rahman’s HSBC account on Jan 19, 2012 after withdrawing cash from six of his own accounts at Dhaka Bank’s Amin Bazar Branch the same day.
Prime Bank
Out of Saifur Rahman’s seven FDR accounts in Prime Bank’s Gulshan Branch, the source of funds of five is not clear.
Source: Bd news24
