UNB, Dhaka :The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on Sunday interrogated four people in connection with the non-funded part of the much-talked-about Sonali Bank loan scam.An ACC team, led by its director Mir Zainul Abedin Shebly, questioned them at the ACC head office in the capital, the Commission’s Public Relations Officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told UNB.Seven people-Shahidul Islam, director of Strong Plus Corporation Limited; Sabbir Ahmed, managing director of Strong Plus Corporation Limited; M Mahbub Haque Bhuiyan of Mash Cotton Corporation; M Lutfar Rahman and M Helal Uddin, owners of Samata Textiles and Spinning; M Selim Morshed, managing director of Samata Textiles and Spinning; and KM Mahruf Reza, proprietor of Tania Enterprise-were scheduled to be grilled on Sunday. Four of them were present during the questioning.Six more proprietors of private business firms will be interrogated on Monday.In August 2015, the ACC resumed its probe into the non-funded part of Sonali Bank loan scam since the Sonali Bank authorities in its internal probe found that some 37 commercial banks were involved in the non-funded part of the loan scam.Hall-Mark Group swindled out a total of Tk 3,547 crore from the Sonali Bank-both funded and non-funded ones. The controversial group swindled out Tk 1,568 crore from the bank’s Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch while it plundered Tk 1,709 crore from different private banks, showing Sonali Bank clearances.In the non-funded part, Hall-Mark Group plundered Tk 1,709 crore from 37 commercial banks, including 25 private banks, five foreign banks and seven government-owned banks.On October 4, 2012, the ACC filed 11 cases against 27 officials of Sonali Bank and Hall-Mark Group on charge of swindling out Tk 1,568 crore from the bank’s Ruposhi Bangla branch.
