3 Sonali bank officials remanded

 

A Dhaka court on Monday placed a general manager (GM) and two deputy general managers (DGM) of Sonali Bank on a 12-day remand each in two cases filed for Hall-Mark loan scam.
Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman passed the order after two assistant directors of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), also the investigation officers of the cases, produced them before it with a 14-day remand prayer.
Meer Mahidur Rahman, the general manager (OSD) of Sonali Bank, and its two DGMs-- Sheikh Altaf Hossain (suspended) and Shafijuddin Ahmed (suspended) -- were arrested Sunday afternoon in connection with the scam.
Earlier on October 4, after two and a half months' investigation, the ACC filed 11 cases against 27 top officials of Sonali Bank and Hall-Mark Group for misappropriating over Tk 1,568 crore in depositor's money.
The amount is part of the more than Tk 2,600 crore credit that the controversial group in collaboration with some bank officials swindled out of the bank using forged documents, according to the investigation.
Seven of the accused are Hall-Mark officials, including its owner Tanvir Mahmud, while the rest are Sonali Bank officials, including its former managing director Humayun Kabir.
The cases were filed under anti-money laundering and corruption prevention acts.
According to the ACC findings, Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch disbursed over Tk 1,568.49 crore in loan to Hall-Mark between October 2011 and May this year.