Former Sonali Bank MD, eight others jailed over loan scams

A Dhaka court has sentenced former managing director of Sonali Bank, Humayun Kabir, and eight others to jail on different terms for embezzlement of Tk 2.57 million through loan forgery.

Judge Md Iqbal Hossain delivered the verdict on Sunday.

The eight others are the bank’s Deputy Managing Director Mainul Haque, General Managers Nani Gopal Nath and Mir Mohidur Rahman, Deputy General Manager Sheikh Altaf Hossain, Assistant General Managers Kamrul Hossain Khan and Saiful Hasan, and Paragon Knit Composite MD Saiful Islam Raja and Director Abdullah Al Mamun.

All the convicts, barring Altaf, were handed 17-year prison terms.

Each convict will serve 10 years in jail for fund embezzlement by a government official and seven years for fraud along with rigorous labour and a Tk 50,000 fine. They will have to serve another three months behind bars in case of failure to pay the fine.

The sentence for Altaf, who is suffering from paralysis, was reduced to 8 years in prison - five years for fund embezzlement and three years for fraud along with rigorous imprisonment and a Tk 50,000 fine. Failure to pay the fine will result in another three months added to his sentence.

Both sentences will run concurrently, with eight of the convicts serving 10 years each behind bars and Altaf serving five years.

The nine convicts were also fined Tk 2.57 million for fund embezzlement by a public servant. The fine will be collected from each of them at the same rate, said Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Abdur Razzak.

Four of the convicts were present in court during the verdict. The court issued an arrest warrant for the fugitives.

The national anti-graft agency started a case at Ramna Model Police Station in 2013 over the embezzlement of more than Tk 12.5 million. Following an investigation, Moshiur Rahman, assistant director of the ACC, formally charged the defendants in court in 2014.

In May this year, Judge Iqbal ordered jail sentences for the ex-MD and eight others in a separate case for embezzling Tk 2.75 million from the bank.

The convicts in the case were also suspects in other cases the ACC filed over the Hall-Mark scam. Humayun, who was suspended from the bank, went into hiding after the court issued an arrest order.

Humayun, the then managing director and CEO of Sonali Bank, the largest state-owned bank, embezzled Tk 25 billion through the Hall-Mark scam.

In 2021, a Dhaka court sentenced Humayun and 10 others to prison over the embezzlement of Tk 13.7 million.