21 indicted over Sonali bank scam

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday approved charge sheets in 10 cases against 21 people, including 10 officials of Sonali Bank, for reportedly swindling out nearly Tk 19 crore from the state-owned bank.

The Commission at its regular meeting approved the charge sheets, ACC public relations officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya confirmed.

The charge sheets will be submitted before court against managing director of Paragon Knit Composite Limited Saiful Islam Raja and its director Abdullah Al Mamun, owner of Mondal Traders Mukul Hossain, DN Sports chairman Motahar Uddin Chowdhury, its MD Shafiqur Rahman John and director Fahmida Akhter Shikha and chairman of Khan Jahan Ali Sweater Tajul Islam, its managing director Abdul Jalil Sheikh, directors Rafiqul Islam and Mir Shawkat Ali.

Eleven senior officials of Sonali Bank, including former managing director Humayun Kabir, deputy managing director Mainul Haque and deputy managing directors Sheikh Altaf Hossain and Safizuddin Ahmed, assistant general mangers Kamrul Hossain Khan and Azaz Ahmad, general managers Noni Gopal Nath and Mir Mohidur Rahman, and deputy general manager AKM Azizur Rahman, assistant general manger Saiful Hasan and executive officer Mohammad Abdul Matin are named in the chargesheets.

On 1 January 2013, the ACC filed 26 cases against 35 officials of Sonali Bank and five other companies, including former managing director of the bank Humayun Kabir and managing director of Hallmark Group Tanvir Mahmud for misappropriating more than Tk 350 crore from the Ruposhi Bangla branch of the bank.

ACC deputy director Mir Zainul Abedin Shibly and assistant directors Moshiur Rahman and M Nazmus Saadat conducted the investigation into the 10 cases.