Sonali GM denies link with Hall-Mark scam

Sunday, September 16, 2012 The then general manger of Sonali Bank Motijheel branch on Sunday denied his involvement with the Hall-Mark loan scam.
"I sensed something foul was brewing by Hall-Mark Group in January this year and informed my superior,” said ANM Masrurul Huda Siraji, the then General Manger of Sonali Bank Motijheel branch (international trade and finance department).
“But instead of taking action against Hall-Mark, they transferred me first to Comilla and then to Rangpur," said Siraji.
Siraji who is now serving as GM in Rangpur branch of the bank told this to reporters emerging from the quizzing room of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The anti-graft body was questioning Siraji along with some other officials of Sonali Bank in its office at Segunbagicha in the capital.
State-owned Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch lent Tk 3,606 crore to Hall-Mark Group, T and Brothers, Paragon Group, Nakshi Knit, DN Sports and Khanjahan Ali in violation of banking rules. Of the amount, Hall-Mark alone swindled Tk 2,686 crore.
Separate investigations of the Bangladesh Bank and Sonali Bank concluded that Hall-Mark and the five other companies had been given the sum mainly in loans against fake documents.
Based on its findings, the BB had earlier instructed the scam-hit bank to take action against 32 officials, including a former managing director and two deputy managing directors.
The Sonali Bank so far suspended 17 officials of various ranks over the scam. Two other officials of the bank were also made officers on special duty (OSD)