The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed 12 cases against Prashanta Kumar Halder, widely known as PK Halder, and 34 others over allegations of embezzling nearly Tk433 crore through loans taken in the names of 12 shell companies.
The ACC disclosed the information in a statement on Wednesday, saying that between 2014 and 2017, FAS Finance and Investment Limited approved loans in the names of fake and non-existent companies, which were used to siphon off Tk433.96 crore.
The ACC’s Dhaka District Office-1 filed a total of 12 cases in connection with the incident.
The inquiry found that many of the borrower companies had no real business operations. In several cases, forged documents were used to secure loans.
While some accounts saw one or two installments repaid, most loans went unpaid. Despite this, the loans were rescheduled in board meetings without objection. The ACC also confirmed that the registered addresses of the companies did not exist.
Including interest, the total outstanding amount now stands at around Tk531 crore. The companies involved include Arian Chemicals Limited, Konika Enterprise, BR International, Drinan Apparels, G&G Enterprise, Wintel Corporation, Anan Chemical Industries, and MST Pharma and Healthcare, among others.
Alongside PK Halder, the accused include former chairmen, managing directors, and directors of FAS Finance and Investment Limited, as well as managing directors of the borrowing companies.
The accused are former chairman of FAS Finance and Investment Limited Siddiqur Rahman, former managing directors Russell Shahriar and Mofiz Uddin Chowdhury, former directors Jahangir Alam, Nurul Haque Gazi, Abul Shahjahan, Anjan Kumar Roy, Kazi Mahjabin Momtaz, Soma Ghosh, Mostain Billah, Arun Kumar Kundu, Uddhab Mallik, Ataharul Islam, Pradip Kumar Nandi, Birendra Kumar Som, Anita Kar, Ujjal Kumar Nandi, Md Mustafa and Mostafa Aminur Rashid; former chairmen Mohammad Abdul Hafiz, Mahfuza Rahman Beby and Abdul Motalib Ahmed.
The ACC has charged the accused under Sections 406, 409, 467, 468, 471, and 109 of the Penal Code, 1860; Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947; and Section 4(2) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012.
The commission said investigations and legal proceedings into the alleged money laundering and financial irregularities are ongoing.
