Staff Reporter :
A huge amount of swindled money has been transferred to around 80 bank accounts owned by some of the girl-friends of much talked Proshanta Kumar Halder, popularly known as PK Halder, from his company accounts.
During a briefing to the reporters on the Supreme Court premises on Sunday, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said that he had received primary information over the issue.
The lawyer said, “We are looking for swindled money. It has been transferred to the bank accounts of PK Halder’s girl friends. We got that information. And that money has been transferred from PK Halder’s company. It is our duty to see how that money is being handled. We have to take it into cognizance if anyone’s name is found in handling that money.”
“The amount was transferred to about 70/80 accounts. If anyone’s involvement is found while searching those accounts, then he/she would also be an accused. This is the initial information, now under the verification stage,” added the lawyer.
But the lawyer didn’t specifie as to had been how much money transferred to the girl-friends’ accounts.
Halder while officiating as the managing director of Reliance Finance Ltd, a non-bank financial institution, had made his relatives and directors of three other leasing companies to swindle money. Together, they had allegedly misappropriated an estimated Tk 35 billion from four NBFIs and left the country last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission found in its enquiry.
The NBFIs are ILFSL, Peoples’ Leasing and Financial Services Ltd, Reliance Finance Ltd and FAS Finance and Investment Ltd.
According to investigation officers, Halder created some businesses that existed only on paper. He then took loans using those businesses and got away. Later, the anti-graft body had frozen as many 83 accounts where the said money had been transferred.
Complying with a High Court order the ACC is searching money embezzled by PK Halder and his cohorts. The ACC lawyer had received the information while searching those.
Recently a High Court bench wanted to know from the respondents what steps have been taken to bring back Proshanta Kumar Halder to the country and to arrest him.
In reply, the Anti-Corruption Commission submitted a report in the High Court saying that they had already communicated with the Interpol, an International Criminal Police Organization, to bring back Proshanta Kumar Halder to the country and to arrest him.
After holding hearing on the report the High Court on December 2 this year further sought a report over the initiatives for issuing an arrest warrant from the trail court against PK Halder, FIR of the case filed against him and court order to freeze his movable and immovable properties.
Recently International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL), a non-bank financial institution, informed the company bench of the High Court on October 21 this year that PK Halder would come back to the country on October 25 this year, but he didn’t.
Following a petition, the company bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar on the same day ordered the law enforcing agencies to arrest PK Halder immediate after stepping out of the flight.
The law enforcers were also directed to send him to the competent court of law showing execution of the arrest warrant.
But on October 24, his lawyer informed the attorney general through an email that PK Halder was not able to come back to the country as he had been affected with Covid-19.
