I’m victim of political conspiracy: Henry

 

 

Jannat Ara Henry, a former member of Sonali Bank Board of Directors, talks to the reporters after appearing before the Anti-Corruption Commission in the capital on Thursday. Photo: Focus BanglaUNB, Dhaka

Former member of Sonali Bank Board of Directors Jannat Ara Henry on Thursday claimed that she is the victim of political conspiracy.
“The newspaper reports saying that I’ve accumulated huge wealth are false. I’m the victim of political conspiracy,” she told reporters in front of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) headquarters after she was grilled by the graft watchdog.
Jannat Ara Henry welcomed the media to inquiry into her wealth. “If I’ve any illegal wealth, you (media) can inform the Commission about that. And I’ll be grateful to you,” she said.
A six-member inquiry team, led by ACC Deputy Director Joynal Abedin Shebly, quizzed Henry. The ACC team started questioning her at 10:00am and continued it till 1:30pm at the ACC headquarters in the city, ACC Public Relations officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told the reporters.
Henry was also grilled earlier by the ACC team in connection with the Sonali Bank scam.
An investigation by the Bangladesh Bank detected that the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch of Sonali Bank illegally disbursed loan Tk 3,547 crore to Hall-Mark Group and five other companies.
Of the total loan of Tk 3,547 crore, Hall-Mark Group alone took Tk 2,686.14 crore while TN and Brothers Tk 609.69 crore, Paragon Group Tk 146.60 crore, Nakshi Knit Tk 66.36 crore, DN Sports Tk 33.25 crore and Khanjahan Ali Sweaters Tk 4.96 crore.
On October 2, the ACC inquiry team submitted its preliminary report on the massive loan scam to the Commission. On October 4, the ACC filed 11 cases against Hall-Mark Group MD Tanvir Mahmud and 26 others, including Sonali Bank officials, with the Ramna Police Station on charges of swindling out Tk 1,568 crore from the Ruposhi Bangla branch of the state-owned bank showing fake documents.
During the nearly two and half months’ inquiry, the ACC grilled prime minister’s adviser Syed Modasser Ali, 61 officials of Sonali Bank and 10 officials of Hall-Mark and DN Sports, among other companies.