Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Tanvir Mahmud, managing director of Hall-Mark Group, and another executive of the firm, were arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Sunday night in the capital’s Pallabi in connection with the Sonali Bank loan scam.
The other official is Tushar Ahmed, general manager (commercial), also husband of Tanvir’s sister-in-law.
The RAB arrested them around 9:30pm from a house at Section-6 of Mirpur in the capital Dhaka, officials confirmed.
The RAB’s media and legal wing Director Capt M Sohail said the force had also recovered a foreign pistol, four bullets and a magazine from Tanvir’s possession.
The RAB said it would hand over the duo to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) authorities.
Tanvir was arrested on a request from the ACC, which filed 11 cases on October 4 last with Ramna Police Station against 27 officials of Hall-Mark and state-owned Sonali Bank for misappropriating BDT 15.68 billion.
The cases were filed under the Money Laundering Prevention Act and the Corruption Prevention Act.
Of the accused, seven are Hall-Mark officials, including Tanvir, while the rest are Sonali Bank officials, including its former managing director Humayun Kabir.
According to an audit report, the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch of Sonali Bank had disbursed BDT 36.06 billion in loan to Hall-Mark Group and five other companies defying banking rules.
The central bank also revealed massive irregularities in the sanctioning and disbursing of loans, especially to the Hall-Mark Group.
BBN/SSR/AD-08Oct12-11:05 am (BST)
