Six ex-officials jailed for Tk 4cr fraud

A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced six former officials of now defunct Oriental Bank Limited for misappropriating Tk 4 crore from the bank with fake documents.

Five of them were sentenced to 68 years in prison while another was sentenced to 34 years in jail in four cases filed against them. 

Shah Mohammad Harun, former senior vice president of the bank; Abul Kashem Mahmud Ullah, former senior assistant vice president; Md Fazlur Rahman, former assistant vice president; Mahmud Hossain, former senior assistant vice president; and Quamrul Islam, former executive vice-president got 68 years in prison, while Md Torikul Alam, former executive officer of Oriental Bank, was sentenced to 34 years and also fined Tk 2 crore.

Judge Md Akhteruzzaman of the Special Judge Court-5 of Dhaka also fined the five Tk 4 crore each in the four cases.

The court also sentenced Salauddin, proprietor of M/S Afazuddin Traders, to 17 years in jail and fined Tk 1 crore for assisting the accused in the graft.

Meanwhile, Md Imamul Haque, former deputy managing director of the bank, was acquitted of all charges for a lack of evidence.

As all the convicts have been shown fugitives, the punishment will be effective from the day of their arrest or surrender, the court said.

Only Imamul Haque was present at the court during yesterday's verdict.

The court directed the district magistrate of Dhaka to issue an arrest warrant against the fugitives and to take an initiative for recovery of the fine by selling their attached properties. 

In 2006, the then Anti-Corruption Commission filed four cases against the accused with Motijheel Police Station.

The case statement said the six accused together misappropriated Tk 4 crore from the bank, impersonating themselves as owners of four agencies, which were apparently fake.

The anti graft watchdog pressed charges against them in January 2013.