DHAKA – The report of the investigation on the Hallmark-Sonali Bank loan scandal will be submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission in seven days, said ACC secretary Md Fayzur Rahman Chowdhury on Thursday.
Briefing reporters, Fayzur said it would take time to complete the investigation into the Destiny Group scam.
The investigation into the Hallmark scam already took up about 11 months.
The probe body leader, Mir Joynal Abedin Shibli, also deputy director of the commission, submitted a report to the commission in July on the progress in the investigation.
On July 24, the ACC chairman M Badiuzzaman said that the charge-sheet in the Sonali Bank loan scam case would be submitted to the court in 15 days.
The commission on October 4 last year filed 11 cases against seven officials of the Hallmark Group, including its managing director Tanvir Mahmud, and 20 officials of Sonali Bank, including its former managing director Humayun Kabir, on charge of swindling more than Tk 1,568.39 crore, given to the group in cash, out of a total embezzled amount of about Tk 2,686 crore.
Asked about the graft allegation in the government’s campaign on its development activities through billboards at different key points of the capital, the ACC secretary said, ‘We never said we would not probe into it. We may probe into the allegation.’
Describing the activities of the graft watchdog, he said that the commission received 1,032 graft allegations in July while it decided to probe into 113 allegations.
The ACC secretary said that 10 corruption cases filed by the commission were settled in courts in July and only three of them were resulted in conviction.
According to a Bangladesh Bank investigation report, Hall-Mark and five other companies with the connivance of some bank officials had taken out loans of Tk 3,547 crore from the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch of Sonali Bank, using forged documents.
Of the money, Hall-Mark alone took away around Tk 2,600 crore while T and Brothers commandeered Tk 609.69 crore, Paragon Group Tk 146.60 crore, Nakshi Knit Tk 66.36 crore, DN Sports Tk 33.25 crore and Khanjahan Ali Tk 4.96 crore.
The ACC secretary said the commission has been investigating into the alleged amassing of illegal wealth by Golam Maula Rony, MP, now in prison.
Measures will be taken against him (Rony) if he is proved guilty, he added. – Staff Reporter
