People’s Leasing: SC upholds account freezing order of HC
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court order that directed the Bangladesh Bank to freeze the accounts of people who were directors of People’s Leasing and Financial Services (PLFS) till 2015 and to confiscate their properties.
A six-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain dismissed a leave to appeal petition filed by M Moazzem Hossain, a former director of PLFS, challenging the HC order.
Bangladesh Bank’s lawyer Barrister Tanjib-Ul Alam told The Daily Star that the accounts and properties of former directors of the non-bank financial institution (NBFI) would remain frozen and confiscated following the apex court order.
The HC order was passed on July 14 following a BB petition this year.
Earlier on June 27, the finance ministry reportedly instructed the central bank to shutter the NBFI for its failure to improve its conditions, in a first in the country’s financial sector.
The problems of PLFS began in earnest in 2013-14, when some of its directors made off with more than Tk 1,000 crore by way of submitting fake documents, according to a central bank inspection report.
In 2015, the central bank removed five directors for their involvement in the financial scandal.
Barrister Ajmalul Hossain and advocates Quamrul Haque Siddique and AM Aminuddin appeared for Moazzem.
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