A court framed charges against the former managing director of NRB Global Bank Proshanta Kumar Halder alias PK Halder and 13 others in a case lodged for allegedly amassing illegal wealth and laundering money abroad on Monday.
Judge Mohammad Nazrul Islam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-10 framed the charge against the accused dismissing their exemption appeal.
Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) concluded the hearing of the charge framing against them.
Later, the lawyers of the two accused in the case - Sukumar Mridha and Anindita Mridha, claimed that their clients are innocent and ended the hearing by seeking exemption from the liability of the case.
The court scrapped the exemption plea and fixed September 8 for hearing the remaining charges.
Apart from Halder, the other 13 accused in the case are- Lilabati Halder, Purnima Rani Halder, Uttam Kumar Mistry, Amitabh Adhikari, Pritish Kumar Halder, Rajib Som, Subrata Das, Ananga Mohan Roy, Swapan Kumar Mistry, Avantika Baral, Shankha Bepari, Sukumar Mridha and Anindita Mridha.
Among them, Avantika Baral, Shankha Bepari, Sukumar Mridha and Anindita Mridha are in jail.
PK Halder, along with five others, were detained in Ashoknagar of the Indian state of West Bengal in the morning of May 14, 2022.
According to the case, former managing director and his other associates have embezzled thousands of crores of Bangladeshi taka and siphoned it off to India and other countries.
On March 1, 2021, PK Halder fled Bangladesh through Jessore's Benapole land port.
According to media reports, PK Halder possessed two passports -- one Bangladeshi and the other Canadian -- but he used his Bangladeshi passport to go to India.
In January 2021, the ACC filed five cases against 33 people, including PK Halder, for allegedly laundering over Tk350 crore of International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL).
The case documents said he had laundered about Tk80 crore to Canada and amassed about Tk426 crore beyond his known sources of income.
