The Anti-Corruption Commission has interrogated Rashedul Haque, director of International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL), over the Tk3,000 crore scam by PK Haldar and his associates.
ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar led the interrogation at the ACC headquarters in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The commission has learnt that the accused in the case were involved in the scam and helped PK Halder embezzle the money from financial institutions.
Furthermore, the ACC has now summoned Irfan Ahmed Khan, former managing director of Bank Asia and owner of JK Trade International, to its headquarters on Wednesday.
Prashanta Kumar Halder is the former managing director of NRB Global Bank and Reliance Finance Limited.
According to the ACC, PK Haldar embezzled Tk3,000 crore from International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL) in the name of several reputed companies.
As part of their investigation, the ACC is summoning the chairmen, MDs, and directors of the companies in whose name the loans were taken. As a result, Shimu Roy and Ratan Kumar Biswas have been interrogated.
On Tuesday, four others including Kazi Mumrez Mahmud, a director of Hal International Limited, were also interrogated over the case against PK Halder.
The former chairman of ILFSL MA Hashem and its directors Nasim Anwar, Basudeb Banerjee, and Mohammad Abul Hashem were summoned by the ACC for questioning on August 23.
ACC summoned three other directors of ILFSL - Nowsherul Islam, Anwarul Kabir and Rashedul Haque -for interrogation on August 24.
According to a special investigation by Bangladesh Bank, Tk1,596.14 crore was transferred from ILFSL between 2015 and 2019 as loans, in violation of company rules and regulations, through 48 accounts of various companies and firms where a number of the NBFI’s directors and shareholders have stakes.
Another investigation by Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) made a similar discovery.
Its report said the company’s board of directors, chief executive, executive committee, audit committee, risk management department, and internal control department were jointly responsible for these irregularities.
PK Haldar, who controlled majority shares of the company’s after buying them under the names of different individuals, including his family members, was directly involved in this embezzlement, according to the central bank probe report.
He had also taken control of several similar NBFIs alongside ILFSL several years ago.
According to media reports, PK Halder is now in Canada after managing to embezzle about Tk3,500 crore from these companies and fleeing the country.
The central bank report said ILFSL alone had approved Tk281 crore of the loans to firms/companies where its directors Bashudeb Banerjee and Nowsherul Islam have stakes.
It added that the companies and firms that received such loans include P and L Ltd, Nutrical Ltd, Drinan Apparels Ltd, Anan Chemical Industries Ltd, Sukhada Properties Ltd, Okayama Ltd, G and G Enterprise Ltd, Reptiles Farm Ltd, MTB Marine Ltd, and MST Pharma and Healthcare Ltd.
Most of these companies, some of which are also fake, were owned by PK Halder.
