Ignoring a notice issued by the Anti-Corruption Commission’s, four Sonali Bank Limited officialsaccused of being involved in the Hallmark scamdid not appear at the ACC headquarters yesterday.
The ACC, on November 28, served notices to nine top officials of the Sonali Bank, ordering them to give statements in the case of the embezzling of almost Tk372crorefrom Sonali Bank’s Ruposhi Bangla branch in the capital.
Violating the bank’s rules, officials of the Sonali Bank and five business entities of Hallmark Group allegedly embezzled the money between October 2011 and May 2012.
The officials, who flouted the notices, were, the former general manager at the Sonali Bank, Noni GopalNath, assistant general managers M Kamrul Hossain Khan and M SaifulHasan, and executive officer Mohammad Abdul Matin, said ACC Deputy Director and probe team head, Mir MdZainulAbedinShibli.
Meanwhile, the commission has interrogated five officials of the bank accused on thesame charges. The officials were, the banks former general managers SabitaSiraj (PRL) and ANM Masrurul Huda Siraji, deputy general manager KanizFatema Chowdhury, assistant general manager Ashraf Ali Patwary, and M KhurshidAlam.
The commission, on January 1, filed 26 cases against 17 Sonali Bank officials and 18 top officials of the business entities; on charges of swindling over Tk350 crore from the bank.
Among the officials, Hallmark Group Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud, General Manager (Commercial) Tushar Ahmed, Sonali Bank Deputy Managing Director Atiqur Rahman, General Manager Mir Mohidur Rahman, Deputy General Managers Sheikh Altaf Hossain, Shafiz Uddin Ahmed, and AKM Azizur Rahman (also former manager of the Ruposhi Bangla Branch) are currently in custody while the remaining 17 have absconded.
