ACC to sue Sonali officials, 5 firms
The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday approved filing of 26 cases against several top officials of Sonali Bank and five business entities for misappropriating more than Tk 345 crore of depositors' money.
The cases may be filed on Monday under anti-money laundering and corruption prevention acts, said an ACC high-up asking not to be named.
The amount is a funded portion [an amount given in cash] of the Tk 3,547 crore credit that the five business firms and Hall-Mark Group swindled from Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch with the help of some bank officials using forged documents between October last year and May this year, according to an ACC enquiry.
Several high-ups of the bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch will be accused in all 26 cases, said ACC sources.
If convicted, the accused might have to spend up to 10 years in prison, and their movable and immovable properties might also be confiscated.
The five firms are: T and Brothers, Paragon Knit Composite Ltd, DN Sports, Nakshi Knit and Composite Ltd, and Khanjahan Ali Sweater Ltd.
Of them, T and Brothers swindled Tk 317.52 crore, Paragon Knit Composite Ltd and its sister concern Tk 13.58 crore, DN Sports and its sister concern Tk 2.81 crore, Nakshi Knit and Composite Ltd and its sister concerns Tk 10.81 crore and Khanjahan Ali Sweater Ltd Tk 1.14 crore.
In May, a Bangladesh Bank probe revealed serious irregularities at Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch in sanctioning and disbursing loans of Tk 3,547 crore to the five firms and Hall-Mark. Of the amount, Hall-Mark took Tk 2,686 crore showing fake documents.
On October 4, the ACC filed 11 cases against 27 top officials of Sonali Bank and Hall-Mark for misappropriating over Tk 1,568 crore [funded portion of Tk 2,686 crore].
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