Hall-Mark scam Report submitted; 25 accused

DHAKA: After a long waiting, the report about much-talked Hall-Mark scandal was submitted to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).

An ACC team led by ACC investigation department director general Zia Uddin Ahmed submitted the report on Sunday.

The report included the names of 25 officials of Hall-Mark group and Sonali Bank and sought approval of submitting charge sheet before the court.

The report also suggested departmental punishment of 15 officials of Sonali Bank.

A high level source in ACC confirmed the matter to banglanews.

Earlier, little-known Hallmark Group and five other companies embezzled Tk 3,547 crore from state-run Sonali Bank with the help of bank’s high-ups.

A central bank probe found that Sonali Bank high-ups, including a deputy managing director, a general manager and the branch manager, were directly involved in the scam.

Of Tk 3,547 crore, Hallmark Group alone took away Tk 2,686.14 crore, T 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 Tk 4.96 crore.

Of the six borrowers, Hallmark has been found to be the biggest fraudster.

On August 27, Bangladesh Bank issued a letter to the state-owned Bank asking to dissolve its present managing committee as they failed to monitor the Tk 3,547 crore loan scam of Hallmark group.