Gulam Rabbani :
Former Managing Director of NRB Global Bank Proshanta Kumar Halder (PK Halder) wants to pay the money that he had embezzled in the name of various fake organizations after returning to the country under the court custody.
International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL), a non-bank financial organization, placed an application in the High Court seeking its order to PK Halder to return to the country from Canada under the court custody on condition that he would pay the money that he had embezzled.
After hearing, the High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar on Monday granted the application to allow him to return to the country under the court custody.
The court asked the ILFSL to inform it about his arrival time, date, flight no, etc. and then the court will pass further order on it.
Sources said, while he was the managing director of Reliance Finance Ltd, a non-bank financial institution, PK Halder made his relatives directors of three other leasing companies to swindle money. Together, they misappropriated Tk 3,000 crore of depositors, finds the Anti-Corruption Commission in its enquiry.
Later, the anti-graft body had frozen the 83 accounts where Tk 3,000 crore had been transferred.
Barrister Mahfuzur Rahman Milon, who appeared in the court on behalf of ILFSL, said that PK Halder recently communicated with the ILFSL saying that he wanted to return to the country under the court custody for paying the money that he had embezzled.
“Then the board of ILFSL took a decision to recover the money embezzled by PK Halder after bringing him in the country. As per the decision ILFSL decided to file an application with the High Court seeking its direction to allow him to return to the country under the court custody on condition that he would pay the money that he had embezzled,” added the lawyer.
The court said in its order that if PK Halder was ensured his safe arrival in Bangladesh in order to assist and cooperate the ILFSL to recover its defaulting loans, then, it would be a great achievement not only for the ILFSL but also for the financial sector of the country as a whole.
Earlier on January 19 this year, the High Court imposed ban on leaving the country of all the present shareholder-directors and the top executives of the International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL), including much talked about PK Halder.
But before imposing this ban PK Halder and his family members had left the country, sources said.
Following a petition filed by some depositors of the ILFSL the HC also directed the authorities concerned not to transfer any of their movable and immovable properties, including stock, cash-money, cars etc, to any persons or entity till disposal of the case filed with the High Court in this regard.
Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs was directed to seize the passports of all the present shareholder-directors and the top executives of the company and to collect the detailed information of all of them.
The court also directed the secretary to take necessary steps with utmost priority without squandering any time so that the aforesaid persons cannot leave the country in any way and the secretary was directed to inform the court within 15 days.
Bangladesh Bank was directed to issue necessary directions to all the banks and financial institutions of the country asking them to freeze all the accounts of the shareholder-directors and the top executives of the ILFSL.
The concerned persons are MA Hashem (chairman), M Nurul Alam (director and managing director of Shaw Wallace Bangladesh Ltd), Md Zahirul Alam, FCA (independent director), Nasim Anwar, FCA (independent director), Bashudeb Banerjee (independent director), Papia Banarjee (independent director), Momtaz Begum (independent director), Md Nowsherul Islam (independent director), Md Anwarul Kabir (independent director) and Engineer Md Nuruzzaman (independent director).
The list also include the names of Muhammad Abul Hashem (independent director), Rashedul Haque (managing director of the company), and PK Halder and his relatives, namely, mother-Lilaboti Halder, brother- Pritish Kumar Halder, wife- Susmita Saha, cousins- Amitav Adhikari, and Avijit Adhikari, ex-managing director of Bank Asia Limited Erfanuddin Ahmed and one Uzzal Kumar Nondi.
