3 aides of PK Halder held

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday arrested three officials of International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL) in connection with a case filed over laundering about Tk 70.82 crore from the non-banking financial institution.

ACC's Deputy Director Gulshan Anowar Prodhan arrested ILFSL's acting managing director Syed Abed Hasan, vice-president Nahida Runai and senior manager Rafsan Riyad Chowdhury from the capital's Motijheel area at 4:00pm.

In January this year, the ACC filed five cases against 33 people, including former managing director of now-defunct NRB Global Bank managing director Proshanta Kumar Halder alias PK Halder, for allegedly laundering over Tk 350 crore of ILFSL.

In one of the cases, Abed, Runai, and Rafsan were made accused.

According to the case statement, Halder laundered the money with the help of the accused people who were arrested yesterday.

Managing Director of Anan Chemical Amitav Adhikari and its four directors applied to then ILFSL MD Rashedul for a term loan of Tk 29 crore on October 14, 2015, reads the FIR.

ILFSL assistant manager Rafikul Islam had prepared the loan proposal without scrutiny. Senior manager Rafsan Riad Chowdhury of NBFI examined the proposal and its assistant vice president Al Mamun Sohel forwarded it.

The company's Head of Business Nahida Runai recommended sanctioning the loan. To put up the loan proposal before the board meeting, approval of then ILFSL MD was needed and Rashedul gave the nod, reads the FIR.

On October 25, 2015, the loan was sanctioned as per the approval of ILFSL directors Nasim Anowar, Basudev Banarjee, MA Hashem, and Mizanur Rahman.

Earlier, ACC arrested former chairman of People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited (PLFSL), Uzzal Nandi, and former ILFSL MD Rashedul Haque in connection with the five cases filed in January this year.

In their confessional statements, Rashedul and Uzzal described how Halder laundered money from the NBFIs.

Before joining NRB Global Bank in 2015, Halder was managing director of Reliance Finance.

While he was the managing director, Halder took out money under the disguise of loans from Reliance through at least two dozen non-existent companies created by him. When the pressure mounts for repaying the loan, Halder took out the money from other NBFIs.

In some cases, he used part of the funds to repay installments of loans taken against his several fictitious firms.

Halder put his men at the helm of the financial institutions so that he could easily take loans from those and misappropriate the funds.

Meanwhile, a metropolitan magistrate court yesterday granted five-day remand against the three officials of ILFSL, hours after they were arrested.