Law enforcers on Tuesday arrested Sonali Bank Deputy Managing Director (DMD) Atiqur Rahman for his involvement in much-talked Hall-Mark loan scam from Paltan area in the city. Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) deputy director Pranab Kumar Battyacharya told journalists that Atiqur has been kept in the custody of Paltan police station and after primary quizzing he would be produced before the court with remand prayer on Wednesday.
On October 4, 2012, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed 11 cases against 27 people of Hall-Mark Group and Sonali Bank, including DMD Atiqur Rahman.
On September 4 of the same year, Atiqur was made officer on special duty (OSD).
Earlier, little-known Hall-Mark Group and five other companies embezzled Tk 3,547 crore from state-run Sonali Bank with the help of bank’s high-ups.
A central bank probe committee found that Sonali Bank high-ups, including a deputy managing director, a general manager and the branch manager, were directly involved in the scam.
Of Tk 3,547 crore, Hall-Mark Group alone took away Tk 2,686.14 crore, T and Brothers 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.
Of the six borrowers, Hall-Mark has been found to be the biggest fraudster.
On August 26, the central bank has directed Sonali Bank to suspend 31 of its officers including two deputy managing directors by August 30 for their involvement in the loan scam.
On August 27, Bangladesh Bank issued a letter to the state-owned Bank asking to dissolve its present managing committee as they failed to monitor the Tk 3,547 crore loan scam of Hall-Mark group.
-With The Independent input
