6 Oriental Bank officials jailed

Six officials of now defunct Oriental Bank Ltd were sentenced in absentia to seven years' imprisonment for embezzling Tk 1 crore in the name of loan disbursement.

Bakkar Hossain, who took the credit in connivance with the bank officials, too was jailed for 10 years.

Judge Aminul Islam of Special Judge's Court-4 in Dhaka fined the seven convicts Tk 1 crore each as well.

The punishment of the fugitives will come in effect from the day of their arrest or surrender, the judge said.

The convicted Oriental Bank officials are Shah Mohammad Harun, senior vice president; Abul Kashem Mohammad Ullah, senior assistant vice president; Fazlur Rahman, assistant vice president; Mahmud Hossain, senior assistant vice president;  Kamrul Hossain, executive vice president; and Imamul Huq, deputy managing director of the bank's principal office in the capital.

The court handed down the verdict after the cross-examinations of nine prosecution witnesses.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case against the seven with Motijheel Police Station on December 29, 2006.

On January 8, 2013, it pressed charges against officials of the bank, now known as ICB Islamic Bank Limited, and the loan defaulter.

According to the ACC investigation, the six officials misappropriated Tk 1 crore of depositors' money in the name of disbursing loan to a fake business firm of Bakkar in 2005.