PK Halder’s aide Abantika arrested
A Dhaka court yesterday placed Abantika Boral, an aide to PK Halder, on three-day remand in connection with a graft case.
The order was issued hours after Abantika was arrested in the capital's Dhanmondi around noon by a team of the Anti-Corruption Commission, said ACC Director (public relations) Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya.
The arrestee was first taken to the ACC office before being produced in the Senior Special Judge's Court.
On January 8 last year, the graft watchdog filed the case against Halder, former managing director of NRB Global Bank, over amassing about Tk 275 crore beyond his known sources of income.
Halder allegedly laundered over Tk 10,000 crore from four non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) abroad.
Contacted, ACC Deputy Director Md Salahuddin said Abantika owns a flat in Dhanmondi. "The property was actually bought by PK Halder," he added.
The graft watchdog last week arrested Halder's another aide, Shankha Bepari, over owning a flat bought by the former.
The ACC investigation officer seized Halder's two flats and six acres of land following a court order in this regard last month.
According to the case statement, Halder invested about Tk 123.54 crore in Lipro International. He purchased 589 decimals of land for Tk 1 crore in Mymensingh.
During the enquiry, the ACC found that he invested about Tk 67.35 crore in eight companies.
Besides, documents show that Halder has moveable properties worth Tk 32.25 crore. The total amount of his moveable property stands at Tk 99.61 crore, which he amassed directly and indirectly using others' names, reads the FIR.
The graft watchdog found that Halder, now staying abroad, has a legal income of about Tk 12.48 crore against his total wealth, including moveable and immovable properties, of Tk 287.39 crore.
"He has amassed Tk 274.91 crore beyond his known sources of income," it said.
Halder had joined NRB Global Bank as its managing director in 2015. Several enquiries over embezzlement of crores of taka from NBFIs by Halder are now pending with the ACC.
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