The Anti-Corruption Commission has detected another case of corruption by Hallmark Group in which it embezzled more than Tk 343 crore, a commission investigator told New Age on Sunday. The official said that an inquiry team had found that six other sister concerns of the Hallmark Group had embezzled the amount from Janta Bank Limited through back-to-back letters of credit acceptance by the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch of Sonali Bank.
The team the commission’s deputy director Mir Joynul Abdin Shibly leads also found the involvement of some Sonali and Janata bank officials in the scam.
The team has already collected a Bangladesh Bank report on the inspection of Janata Bank which also mentioned the irregularities, the official said.
According to the the inspection report, Janata Bank gave the money to the Hallmark companies under fake bills signed by Sonali Bank officials.
Now Sonali Bank has disagreed to pay Janata Bank the amount, the official said.
The official also said that seven branches of Janata Bank involved in the Hallmark scam include the Bhaban Corporate branch, local office, Dilkusha branch, Foreign Exchange office, Elephant Road branch, Mohammadpur branch and Ramna Bhaban Corporate branch.
The official said that the Hallmark companies did not export or import any goods by way of the back-to-back LCs, they only exchanged fake papers in the name of at least 35 export-import related companies.
Citing an example, the official said that the companies had showed that they had bought bobbins from a company, which is engaged in packaging business.
The companies in several documents showed that they had carried 25 tonnes goods by a truck while a truck has the maximum capacity of five tonnes.
The commission’s chairman M Badiuzzman told New Age that the team would soon submit its report to that commission and the commission would take a legal initiative against the people involved.
The commission team is now investigating the issue of money laundering by the Hallmark Group through the back-to-back LCs worth about Tk 1,700 crore.
-With New Age input
