ACC to seek contempt order against PK Halder
Likely to ask Interpol for help in bringing him back
The Anti-Corruption Commission will seek contempt of court order against Prashanta Kumar Halder alias PK Halder who is allegedly involved in misappropriating over Tk 10,000 crore from four non-banking financial institutions.
The anti-graft watchdog will also seek assistance from Interpol to bring Halder back to Bangladesh.
Halder was supposed to return to Bangladesh on Sunday. But on Friday, Halder in a letter to International Leasing and Finance Service Limited (ILFSL) informed that he was feeling feverish and physically unwell.
"Given the present Covid-19 situation, this looks like a symptom and it will be unwise and not possible for me to travel at this point," the letter reads.
Contacted, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said, "Halder's failure to return to Bangladesh is a willful violation of court order."
Halder didn't provide any medical document proving his ailment, said Khurshid, adding the HC bench is supposed to hear the matter next Thursday.
"Since he is absconding in a graft case, we'll plead to the court to give directives to the Inspector General of Police to bring back Halder with the help of Interpol," he said.
Halder, a former managing director of NRB Global Bank and Reliance Finance Limited, had earlier shown willingness to return home and repay the embezzled money.
He also submitted his flight schedule and ticket number to the court, said Khurshid.
In August, he wrote to ILFSL -- one of the four non-banking financial institutions (NBFI) -- saying he would return home and settle the liabilities with the firms if he was provided with proper security.
On September 7, ILFSL's counsel Mahfuzur Rahman Milon submitted the letter with an application to the HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar for its directive in this regard.
The HC then ordered the firm to inform it when Halder would return to Bangladesh for settling his transactions and liabilities with the firm.
On October 21, the HC directed law enforcement agencies to arrest Halder immediately after he landed at Hazrat Shajalal International Airport.
At the same time, the HC bench asked law enforcers to give Halder the opportunity to refund the money to the organisations from which he embezzled the money.