A Dhaka court is set to pronounce its verdict on February 28 in a much-talked loan scam case against the Hallmark Group, accused of embezzling around Tk4,000 crore of Sonali Bank through forgery in 2010-12.
In this case, a loan of around Tk526 crore was disbursed in the name of a non-existent Max Spinning Mills and Tk10.5 crore was misappropriated, according to the charge sheet filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against 19 people.
Judge Abul Kashem of Dhaka’s First Special Judge’s Court fixed the date on Sunday after the hearing of arguments of the state and the defence counsels.
The court indicted the accused on March 27, 2016, and recorded the testimony of 57 out of a total of 81 witnesses in the last eight years, ACC prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam said.
After the scam came to light in 2012, the ACC filed 40 separate cases after an investigation. Among them, 38 were funded cases and 2 non-funded cases.
Who are the accused?
The accused who are now in prison include Hallmark Group Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud, his wife and the company's chairman, Jasmine Islam, General Manager Tushar Ahmed, Sonali Bank's head office general manager Mir Mohidur Rahman, DGM Md Safizuddin Ahmed, DMD Mainul Haque (currently OSD), AGM Md Kamrul Hossain Khan (suspended) and MD of Nakshi Net Abdul Malek.
Besides, two suspended DGMs Sheikh Altaf Hossain and Jamal Uddin Sarkar, the chairman of Tetuljhora Union Parishad in Savar, are on bail.
The other absconding accused are Paragon Group MD Saiful Islam Raja, Sonali Bank Head Office GM Nani Gopal Nath (now OSD), Head Office former managing director Humayun Kabir, assistant deputy general manager Md Saiful Hasan, executive officer Abdul Matin, Max Spinning Mills owner Mir Zakaria, T & Brothers Director Taslim Hasan, Sonali Bank DMD (OSD) Md Atiqur Rahman and current Senior Executive Officer of Sonali Bank Dhanmondi branch Meherunnessa Mary.
The bank’s former MD and mastermind of the Tk4,000 crore-loan scam, Humayun Kabir, is living a luxurious life abroad.
What the law says
The accused were indicted under Section 420/406/409 of the Penal Code and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1947 and Section 4(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2012.
Section 420 of the Penal Code provides a maximum imprisonment of 7 years for cheating, Section 406 of 3 years for criminal breach of trust and Section 409 provides a maximum imprisonment of life for criminal breach of trust by a public servant.
Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act provides a maximum of 7 years imprisonment and Section 4(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act provides for a maximum of 12 years imprisonment.
How it unfolded
According to an investigation of Bangladesh Bank, Sonali Bank’s Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch lent the Hallmark Group and five other companies Tk3,547 crore between 2010 and 2012 on the basis of fake documents. Of the amount, the Hallmark Group alone swindled Tk2,686.14 crore.
The company withdrew more money from various branches of 40 domestic and foreign banks. Of this, only Tk567.47 crore was recovered after the fraud was first reported in 2012.
Till then, it was the country’s largest financial scam. Police arrested Group MD Tanvir Mahmud on October 8, 2012. Police also arrested his wife and top officials of the company and the bank, but the swindled money could not be recovered.
Hallmark Group Chairman Jasmine Islam got bail in August 2013 on the condition of paying Tk100 crore per month. After she failed to comply with the order, the court cancelled her bail on July 14, 2019, and sent her back to prison.
Jasmine jailed in one case
On July 11, 2018, Hallmark Group Chairman Jasmine Islam was sentenced to three years imprisonment in a case filed by the ACC for not submitting her wealth statement. She was also fined Tk20 lakh.
The ACC, while probing the case, found information about huge undeclared assets of the couple and asked Jasmine to submit a wealth statement. After she failed to do so, the anti-graft watchdog filed the case on December 12, 2013.
