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Crippling Corruption by Awami League regime

Over Taka 400,000 crore skimmed out

The scars of the Padma bridge bribery scandal have not yet healed. Now a composite scandal some 1500 times the size of the alleged loot in Padma Bridge negotiations is in the process of exposure. It may very well put Bangladesh back again on top of the Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI). The December 2011 CPI placed Bangladesh slightly below the top.

An exclusive investigation has found that in four major public-run sectors alone, corruption rackets had embezzled over 400,000 crore taka in routine dealings over the last few years. The concerned sectors are banking, telecommuni-cation, energy and education. The recently exposed Sonali Bank- Hallmark scam that provoked loud public outcry pales indeed in comparison with the quantum of corruption found in other public sector entities.
Topping the list is the telecom sector, with an estimated 151,000 crore taka irregularities since June 2009, followed by the energy sector where kickback in feigned system loss and over billing by quick-rental power plants and energy deals tallies up to Taka 140,000 crores. Monthly Pay Order (MPO) related corruption in the education sector accounts for another 111,000 crores taka.
The revealing data comes from a team of private investigators who are gathering evidence from a number of reliable sources. “Much more is on the way,” said a member of the investigating team.
According to the team’s estimation, the Sonali Bank scam involves over Taka 5,000 crore. The exact amount of loss from improper transactions in the Hallmark scandal is taka 3,699 crore 53 lacs; discovery of similar irregularities involving taka 1400 crores loaned to 14 other business corporations having close relationship with high-ups in the government accounts for the rest. The anomalies have been corroborated in an audit by a Chartered Accountant Firm, Saiful Shamsul Alam & Company.

Auditors have unearthed another major embezzlement in Bangladesh Krishi Bank, involving Taka 157 crores that were siphoned away under phoney loan schemes in favour of ruling party loyalists masquerading as businessmen.

Most revealing is the corruption in the telecom sector, commandeered and regulated by the sole discretion the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). Investigators found evidence of underhand dealings in the transfer in early 2011 of 70 per cent shares of the Warid Telecom to the Airtel. Using Airtel as the front, majority of the transferred shares were in fact vested in the name of a close relative of a senior political leader of the country. The deal also illegally waived taka 4 billion transfer fee and deprived the public exchequer of that bounty.
In March, corruption marred the $10 million consultancy deal with the US-based Space Partnership International, which was chosen by the government by rejecting a contender with better scores in technical ability to launch the country’s first space satellite. Besides, massive discrepancies were discovered in the data and records obtained from the state-owned Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited (BTCL), covering March 2011 to March 2012, involving Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) operations. The scam milked over taka 100 crore from 45,000 call terminations during that period. When the discrepancy was detected, the Managing Director of the BTCL escaped grilling and any punitive action, being protected by government and top BTRC bosses and political connections.

The Finance Ministry and the Home Ministry had assured the Press, when strong public pressure blew up over the Hallmark scandal, that none of the suspect wrong-doers of the lending bank and the borrowing companies will be allowed to leave the country. But meanwhile, the Sonali Bank Managing Director, Prodip Kumar Dutta, had already flown out of Bangladesh.

The investigators also discovered that a team of BTRC officials have pocketed large kickbacks by allowing a number of phone companies to tamper records and evade taxes by showing lesser number of customers. But these are peanuts compared with the hefty kickback—estimated to be Taka 60,000 crores - that has changed hands while nominating the three Interconnection Exchanges (ICX), 22 International Gateways (IGW), and a host of International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) by the BTRC. These deals needed prior commitment to and blessings from senior political leaders in power.

Soumen Sengupta, son of minister Suranjit Sengupta, is one of the ICX licensees. He disclosed, under interrogation on April 26, that the fund he used to obtain the ICX license came from his friends. The deceptive narrative seems to have unhinged Mr. Sen (jr), at least temporarily, from the hook, although his father’s bribery scam is still spreading toxic stinks. The most odious is the cabal’s attempt to circumvent a fair investigation.

What else could explain how the main witnesses of that scam, the driver of the car and the concerned APS of the minister as well as the GM of the railway, have all vanished from the scene. This happened despite the fact that both the driver (the whistle-blower) and the APS (the main suspect along with the GM) having been arrested on April 9 by members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) red handed with taka 70 lakh cash in the vehicle.

The minister and his political patrons did their best to cover up the matter: of bribe money, yielding at last to the demand for the minister’s resignation from the ministry pending inquiry on April 16. Mr. Sen, however, continues to hold a cabinet portfolio as a minister without a ministry.
The investigators found that the most covetous fountain of ill-gotten money is the VoIP network. Following repeated exposures of corruption in this immoral scheme, the ACC dispatched letters in May to six major cell phone operators demanding information regarding illegal VoIP activity emanating from ISD calls channelled through BTCL’s ICX and IGW (International Gateway). A senior ACC official, insisting on anonymity, confirmed how the investigation was evaded, and blamed sharing of illicit collections, and collusion between BTCL and cell phone operators as the crux of the problem.

Although much of the corruptions in the energy sector remain covered beneath the surface, the investigation reveals approximately one half of the total system losses (amounting to an estimated $200 million loss to the public exchequer) incurred by Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and the Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority (DESA) are due to falsified meter reading and bribing.

The sector is replete with other hidden transactions of hefty sums, often exchanged in foreign currencies. All 53 contracts for executing 55 power projects, with or without tenders, since coming to power of the AL-led regime in early 2009 remain shrouded by total lack of transparency, and bear signs of naked nepotism or huge bribe payments in advance. Evident signs are there also of cartel formation limited to family or political connections. For instance, the country’s single largest power producer, Summit Group, belongs to the family of an incumbent cabinet minister while other deals are linked with family members of senior ruling party political leaders. The Orion Group is another crony beneficiary that has recently been awarded contracts to install three private coal-based power plants of dubious viability purported to add 1088MW power to the national grid.

Investigators also made a stunning discovery of a $50 million bribery scam in a recent deal between India’s Reliance Group and one of the major power producers in Bangladesh. The deal is said to have been fixed by commitment in advance of a large sum of facilitation money for an expatriate relative of a senior politician who brokered the deal.

Education sector corruption has assumed archetypical currency. Since the inception in 1981 of the Monthly Pay Order (MPO) system, thousands of crores of takas from the myriad of educational institutions have been collected by rent-seeking local politicians and education ministry officials. Members of Parliament have been made chairman of all educational institutions in their respective constituencies. Rent-seeking for all matters, from recruitment of teachers, recommendations for government subsidies, purchase of books and other articles, etc. have been covertly institutionalised under the regime.

Amidst routine monthly bribe coming to the Directorate and the concerned ministry from the 28,000 non-government secondary schools, madrasas and colleges under the existing MPO-list, the quantum of illicit collection outweighs the taka 5,000 crore siphoned out annually from the public exchequer on the MPO outlet.

The Padma Bridge bribery or attempted bribery scandal led to the investigation of sources of inexplicable wealth displayed by some Bangladeshi expatriates with high connections in the ruling party of Bangladesh. It was only the tip of an iceberg of corrupt practices, which are coming to limelight one after another.

Holiday
 
HALLMARK SCAM
Delay in filing cases sparks fear of cover up

Special Correspondent

Why the government is not arresting the Hallmark swindlers including its managing director Tanvir Mahmud and some senior Sonali Bank officials and putting them on remand? Why Finance Minister AMA Muhith had left the country for 10 days at this critical time without bringing the perpetrators of the crime to book?
He had earlier dismissed the scandal as a small thing to term it a crisis. Although he has subsequently apologized to the nation to correct his stance, his reluctance to take action against the swindlers makes people to believe that the government wants to cover this up to save its skin where high government functionaries and ruling party leaders at different levels are said to be involved.
Mystery is only deepening by noticing how the government’s decision to file cases against the alleged culprits is moving in snail’s pace. Since the disclosure of the massive swindling of over Tk 3,606 crore so far alone from a single branch – Rupashi Bangla branch and with around Tk 10,000 crore in all from other branches of Sonali Bank and other state-owned commercial banks (SCBs), the government indifference to file cases and detain the culprits is only adding confusion about the government motive.
It is almost three weeks since the massive scam became public. But State Minister for Home Shamsul Islam Tuku told the media last Tuesday that so far they have received no request from concerned authorities to take action against the alleged culprits. ‘How could we take action without police case’, he said.
Three lawyers of Supreme Court on Tuesday filed a case seeking the direction of a High Court bench on the government as to why a judicial probe committee should not be formed to investigate the country’s biggest ever banking scandal.
Meanwhile, news reports said that Sonali Bank has decided to file criminal cases against the alleged culprits but since the Managing Director of the bank is out of the country, they are waiting for his return. These are only eyewash to bypass the public outcry, sources said.

Undermining the cause
But prominent banking personalities such as former Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said the delay is only undermining the cause. It may be difficult to recover the fund if the process suffers from indecision or from lack of stringent actions.
Besides, why the government is ignoring calls from senior lawmakers Sheikh Fazlul Haque Selim and Tofail Ahmed to arrest the master minds of the scam and put them on police remand is also compounding the confusion.
It is critical to allow time to the alleged culprits to flee the country, destroy the loan documents or transfer the money out of the country or put it into hide out accounts within the country.
The involvement of political persons in the swindling has made it all the more sensitive. Reports said the administration is already divided on taking quick actions against the culprits.
Even they are trying to stop extensive inspection to more bank branches in the light of the huge swindling from three branches of Sonali Bank, three branches of Janata Bank and one branch of Agrani and Rupali Bank each.
Reports say the central bank has decided to begin inspection at 152 most vulnerable branches of the SCBs in and around the capital but certain quarters in the government are putting pressure on the governor to stop it or delay it for the time being. They tend to believe that more inspections may only bring to light more incidence of swindling to further embarrass the government. Such disclosures are likely to create bigger political problems for the government so the authorities are trying to sidetrack it.
Since politically appointed bank directors and some advisers to the Prime Minister are allegedly engaged in the scam and as news reports claim that Sonali Bank chairman had acted personally to facilitate fictitious loans to the hallmark Group, the government may be trying to bury the sandal like the stock market scam without bringing the perpetrators to book.
The swindling incidence has brought to light terrible banking frauds. Hallmark has not only used the cover of its non-existent firms, it has also pushed other banks to buy Sonali Bank accepted bills to make payment to Hallmark Groups fictitious accounts. A total of Tk 3,000 crore is at stake with unpaid bills.
Not only that in some cases, Rupashi Bangla branch has made payment to firms or individuals through vouchers instead of standard bank cheques. Thus it has become difficult now to verify who the actual beneficiaries were and where the money had gone.

Holiday
 
Sonali Bank won’t file cases against Hallmark swindlers

Staff Correspondent

Sonali Bank’s managing director Pradip Kumar Dutta on Tuesday said his bank would not file any criminal cases against some of its officials and Hallmark Group’s MD and chairman in connection with swindling of more than Tk 3,606 crore from the bank.
Sonali Bank’s management has already lodged complaints with the Anti-Corruption Commission against the accused officials and the MD of Hallmark Tanvir Mahmud and chairman Jasmine Chowdhury, he said at a press briefing after a meeting with a parliamentary subcommittee in the bank’s headquarters.

....................

When asked whether the subcommittee would summon Syed Modassir Ali, health adviser to the prime minister, Tajul said there was no need to do so as they had not heard any allegation against him of involvement in this scam.

Adviser's shadow in Hallmark scam
Adviser's shadow in Hallmark scam


New Age | Newspaper
 
A BIG HIT ON FACEBOOK -

408594_464972386881437_670050426_n.jpg
 
Here is the follow up picture of Awami League and Hasina family using Bangladesh as their personal property. Shajeeb wajed Joy (Hasina's corrupt son) sitting in PM seat, Putul (Hasina's daughter) occupying FM seat, while Hasina making her speech.

 
Here is the follow up picture of Awami League and Hasina family using Bangladesh as their personal property. Shajeeb wajed Joy (Hasina's corrupt son) sitting in PM seat, Putul (Hasina's daughter) occupying FM seat, while Hasina making her speech.


Seems they are going the BAL way !!!
 
Why none of the BD newspaper published those picture?
 
PART I – SHARE MARKET, DESTINY, HALLMARK...

Corruption...? Or, pathological greed?

by Rahnuma Ahmed

Why should we pay our income tax when...?”
INCOME TAX returns were due by September 30, 2012. Last week, while I sat in the office of an income tax officer -- a rare one, for, unlike most government officials who tend to be rude and officious, she lives by the pledge of public service -- I watched other taxpayers vent their fury.
“They expect us to pay taxes while they plunder and steal and rob the public,” said one [For reasons unknown to me, the government is always spoken of in the plural in Bangla].

“Yes, to think that my tax is calculated to the last penny earned while ruling party politicians and businessmen loot crores of public money,” said another.

“And that fool of a finance minister, saying 4,000 crore taka is no big deal..”, chimed in the third.
“For once Muhith was right, compared to what’s been stolen, it’s puny” -- a volley of words through which the income tax officer kept working quietly. Without raising her eyes, busy as they were in tallying figures, she gently demurred, “He did apologise in parliament later.” “It doesn’t mean a thing, he’s a blundering fool, remember what he said about the share market scam, he said, its “wicked.” Why, its criminal!”

“I’m sure those guys don’t pay any taxes”, said another, and almost in unison, all three began reeling off names. Of cabinet ministers, the prime minister herself, her family members, of others as well -- the “big fish” outside the cabinet, many of whom have since become household names in middle class homes. Disreputable names.

“Thieves”, senior journalist A B M Musa, had spat out on a TV talk show.
“Far worse than thieves and dacoits”, observed left economist Anu Muhammad at a discussion.
“Kleptocrats”, thundered Manzurul Ahsan Khan, president, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), at a public rally. On another occasion, he’d also said, while corruption during the BNP-Jamaat regime was controlled by “one” house (ie, Hawa Bhaban), it is now being done by “many.”
“Well, so-and-so does, I mean, pay taxes,” she said matter of factly, yet again, eyes lowered, busy at her work. But her gentle correction was of no help, another excitable volley of words. Back and forth, each taxpayer picking up before the other had finished. No pauses.

“Aah yes, but do they declare their real incomes? Didn’t the Awami League pledge before the elections that the wealth statement and income of the prime minister, her cabinet ministers, MPs, their family members would be made public every year?”

“Have they arrested anyone? Remanded anyone? Hallmark? Sonali Bank? Destiny? Share market? Everyone knows that the prime minister’s adviser Syed Modassir Ali is involved in the Hallmark scandal, but what does the parliamentary committee say? His name didn’t crop up in the allegations! Do they take us to be fools?”

“And look at those ACC [Anti-Corruption Committee] guys, they interviewed Modassir at his home instead of hauling him over to the ACC headquarters. Would they have been similarly kind and considerate if it had been a member of the public?”

“And that Beximco’s Salman, they covered up for him in 1996, they’re doing it again, how can he still be the PM’s private sector advisor?”

A lull in the tirade, broken by one taxpayer saying, half aloud, almost to herself, “I wonder whose pocket my income tax will go into?” Her question was cut short as another immediately butted in, “Maybe we should all stop paying our taxes?”

But of course, nothing of that sort happened. Everyone present, a former school teacher, a college teacher, and a housewife, duly handed in their respective income tax returns. I watched them respond to the officer’s searching questions, I observed their earnest responses. “I need to submit more papers, do I? Sure, I’ll bring them in.”

According to media reports, this year’s income tax fair was a resounding success. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) says, taxes collected at this year’s fair was double the amount collected last year.

(While we pay our taxes, the powerful are busy) “Making money”
Even though the successive scams -- share market crash, Destiny, and Hallmark -- are fresh in our minds, I’ll quickly run over some of the details,
The government appointed a probe committee of the worst-ever share market crash in January 2011; according to the 320-page report, a group of dishonest traders colluded with stockmarket regulators to swindle retail investors out of at least 20,000 crore taka. Taka 5,000 crore went into private pockets, 15,000 crore taka was siphoned abroad. The report -- submitted to the finance minister on April 7, 2011 -- named 2 merchant banks and 60 individuals, of whom 20 were allegedly the “masterminds.” At the finance minister’s insistence, individual names were deleted before the report was made public, but press leaks had flashed the names.
Thai-Bangla Aluminium (one of the named) filed a defamation case against widely-respected Khondker Ibrahim Khaled, head of the committee, and its 3 members, demanding 100 crore taka in compensation. Khaled, fortunately, won the legal battle; Muhith later accused Khaled of engaging in “character assassination,” a preposterous charge, but it was backed by a section of the corporate-owned print and electronic media. The government has yet to take any action against any of those those named.

Khaled had told the press, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), military officers, government high officials and bourses (stock exchange) are “all connected with [the] placement business.” He’d added -- and this is highly significant, lending as it does a window into the nature of the ruling class, apparently wracked by strife and dissension among the two major political parties, led by leaders who hate each other’s guts, parties who present themselves as have nothing in common, neither in their ideological beliefs nor in their programmes for economic development: “Some businessmen, who have close ties with the people in power, might have taken undue advantage of their connections. Some of them either support Awami League or BNP, but when it comes to making money, they are above politics.”

On to the Destiny scam,
The Destiny Multipurpose Co-operative Society, a sister concern of Destiny-2000 Limited, had repeatedly been cautioned by Bangladesh Bank (BB) officials, spurred by news reports, to stop illegal banking activities -- ranging from collecting deposits to lending. A BB investigation revealed that the organisation had 70 lakh members with targets set to increase its membership to 1 crore; on December 31, 2011, it had collected nearly 2,000 crore taka in deposits and share capital from people through its cooperative window, by dint of which it enjoys tax exemption. According to press reports, very little was lent to its members, the bulk, initially transferred to various non-profitable and inoperative organisations, was later deposited in the bank accounts of top officials. The ACC have filed two money laundering cases against 22 top officials of Destiny, it includes former army chief and freedom fighter (who was also, secretary general of the Sector Commander’s Forum) Lt Gen (retd) M Harun-Ar-Rashid. They are accused of laundering and misappropriating Tk 33,000 crore, but these official moves occurred only after the Bangladesh Bank had failed to freeze the suspected bank accounts, had failed to prevent Destiny’s executives from withdrawing the money from these accounts.

The Jubok (Jubo Karmasangsthan Society) scam is a precursor to Destiny, it too was a multi-level marketing company, it too had indulged in illegal banking activities. The central bank ordered Jubok’s closure six years ago, instructing it to repay the Taka 100 crore it owed its clients. Repayment has not yet happened.

Next, the Hallmark-Sonali Bank scam, which continues to unfold, in ever more bizarre ways, as the Destiny one remains unresolved.

Hallmark followed quick on the heels of the Destiny ripoff. The textile firm Hallmark Group, and its five shady sister concerns embezzled about 3,600 crore taka from Sonali Bank’s Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch between 2010 and May 2012; the loan was given not against any notable collaterals but against forged documents. Criminal cases have not been filed against Hallmark by Sonali Bank, supporters of the state-owned bank claim they can’t because of the ongoing ACC investigations, which many reputed analysts point out is utter hogwash; in a bizarre turn of events, the managing director of Hallmark Group Tanvir Mahmud was asked to return 50 percent of the loan within 15 days. Tanvir said he needed “time,” a period variedly reported in the media as being somewhere between 20-30 years. Some Sonali Bank officials have been suspended, mostly, “small fry.” The directors of the Bank claim they are not to be blamed, they were clueless.

According to a recently published report in weekly Holiday, the extent of financial corruption is far worse. Based on an indepth study conducted by a team of private investigators (audited by a firm of chartered accountants), the weekly’s report claims that corruption rackets over the last few years have skimmed off 400,000 crore taka from four major public-run sectors -- banking, telecommunication, energy and education. The report says that the skimming is routine, which means that it is an everyday occurrence. Mundane. Unremarkable.
The telecom sector heads the list, irregularities since June 2009 are estimated to be 151,000 crore taka.

Kickbacks in feigned system loss, over-billing by quick rental power plants and numerous energy deals are calculated to have cost the state’s coffers 140,000 crore taka.

Corruption in the education sector -- conducted mainly through the MPO (Monthly Pay Order) system for 28,000 non-government secondary schools, madrasas and colleges, bribery in teacher recruitment, recommendations for government subsidies, purchase of books etc -- accounts for 111,000 crore taka.

The report highlights several specific cases of corruption: a major embezzlement in Bangladesh Krishi Bank (157 crore taka was siphoned away by ruling party loyalists masquerading as businesmen); Warid Telecom transferred 70% shares to Airtel (a front) thereby depriving the public exchequer of a 400 crore taka transfer fee; Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) operations have milked 100 crore taka. The Holiday news report also speaks of a possible cartel formation -- involving the Summit Group, the country’s single largest power producer -- which is “limited to family or political connections.” All power projects since the AL-led government came to power in January 2009, lack even an iota of “transparency,” bearing marks instead of “naked nepotism,” or, “huge” bribes. Summit is owned by the commerce minister’s family (M Shahidul Islam, “Sectorwise Rent-Seeking Rackets. Over Taka 400,000 crore skimmed out,” Holiday, September 14, 2012).While the ACC chairman has acknowledged that “financial crimes” in recent years are higher than before, for most people, this is a great understatement.

Meanwhile, banks have written off 21,000 crore taka as bad loans (till March 2012). According to a BB official, these loans had been granted on “political considerations”, ie there are no chances of recovering them. Further, the rampant and improper disbursement of loans in state-owned commercial banks have caused a severe liquidity crisis in the latter.

The revelations of corruption, particularly those connected to the banking sector, has led some experts to call for the (further) privatisation of state-owned banks. This falls in line with the ideas and policies of neo-liberalisation -- propagated by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and Western aid agencies.

http://www.newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2012-10-01&nid=25501
 
Govt cheats people with rental power: experts

Staff Correspondent

Experts and eminent citizens on Friday said that the government had cheated people in increasing electric supply by buying expensive rental power from the private sector instead of low-cost, old plants.

They made the observation at a roundtable on frequent power price increases and rental and quick rental power. The weekly Saptahik organised the programme.They also alleged that the government had let vested interests bag public money by allowing the establishment of rental power plants and buying electricity from them in a non-transparent manner.

Corruption in the power sector coupled with policy suggestions of the International Monetary Fund created the ground for the government to increase power and fuel prices frequently, making lives of middle- and low-income groups miserable, they said.

New Age | Newspaper

Akbar Ali Khan, former adviser to the immediate-past caretaker government, said that the government would lose its acceptability to people if it increased prices of power, fuel and water frequently.He said that the government had failed to check theft in the power sector. ‘So government investments in the sector should not be called subsidy.’Akbar said that the government had not taken any significant initiatives to increase power generation from old plants in the public sector.

He said that rental or quick rental plants had never been a solution to the crisis in the power sector. None of the ‘so-called pro-people government’ and the military-backed government anything effective to reduce power shortage, Akbar said.He also urged the government to address the problem in the interest of the people and not to follow the suggestions of the International Monetary Fund.

The Power Cell’s former director general BD Rahmatullah claimed that rental power producers were given in fabricated generation cost Tk 6,000 crore a year more than what they should get.

Initially, the government allowed ‘unfit’ entrepreneurs without any tender process to install old and inefficient plants and sell electricity to the Power Development Board, he said. ‘As a result, the plants are consuming up to 150 per cent more fuel to produce the same amount of power compared with new or efficient plants,’ he said.

The Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary Mujahidul Islam Salim said, ‘Like Destiny and Hallmark scams or the scam in the share market, rental power is a scam in the power sector.’ He said that the government could be called a ‘government of scams.’

Columnist Syed Abul Maksud, academics Abu Ahmad and Piash Karim, and rights activist Kallol Mostafa also spoke. The Saptahik executive editor, Shuvo Kibria, read out the keynote paper.
 
Bigwigs shared Tk 500 cr with Hallmark[

Special Correspondent


Ruling party bosses and Sonali Bank officials have taken away over Tk 500 crore as cash benefits to facilitate the swindling, sources close to the investigators is reported to have said.
Another report said the ACC has become unhappy with Sonali Bank board noticing its reluctance to file cases against the Hall-Mark Group for recovery of the swindled money. It has warned the bank that if they are not filing cases against Hall-Mark Group, the anti-graft agency will file cases against Sonali Bank for failing to do its part of the job.
Meanwhile, the arrested Managing Director of the Hall-Mark Group Tanvir Mahmud and its general manager Tushar Ahmed started disclosing the names of the political bigwigs and Sonali Bank senior officials who helped them swindled around Tk 2,500 crore of the bank’s Rupashi Bangla branch.

Anti-Corruption Commission officials and detective branch police are interrogating them as the court has allowed a 29-day remand for Tanvir and a 24-day remand for Tushar, reports said. Sources close to the investigators said both of them are opening up their mouths.
They are annoyed with their mentors because they have failed to protect them from being arrested. Tanvir is reportedly to told the investigators that ruling party bigwigs and Sonali Bank senior officials, including board members have pocketed around
Tk 500 crore as part of their cash benefit. But the investigators are not mentioning their names to the press.
Meanwhile, ACC has ordered investigation into the assets of some senior Sonali Bank officials, including board chairman Baharul Islam and some of the directors.
Sonali Bank is quite reluctant to file any case against the Hall-Mark Group. The ACC is unhappy about it and warned if Sonali Bank does not file cases against the Hall-Mark group for recovery of the money, it will file cases against Sonali Bank for failing in its duty, the sources said.

Holiday
 

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