ACC ‘not sure’ when PK Halder can be brought back

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been communicating with Interpol to bring Prashanta Kumar Halder alias PK Haldar back to the country from India but it is yet to get confirmation on when repatriation will happen.

"We have already contacted the Interpol authorities and they have reacted very quickly. They have taken immediate steps to return our accused," ACC Director General Sayeed Mahbub Khan said during a media briefing at ACC headquarters on Monday.

Legal experts are saying that it could take four to five months to bring PK Haldar back.

Asked how many days it would take, the ACC director general said, "It is difficult to say exactly. It would not be right to say exactly how many cases have been filed there (in India), how long it will take for the cases to be tried or whether he can be brought back before the trial."

PK Halder, former managing director (MD) of NRB Global Bank and Reliance Finance Limited, was arrested in India's West Bengal on 14 May.

According to India's Financial Intelligence Unit, PK Halder was living in the state neighbouring Bangladesh using a fake identity. 

According to the information available to India's Enforcement Directorate (ED), PK Halder has laundered around Tk300 crore from Bangladesh to India. 

The money has been used to build luxury houses in different areas, including Ashok Nagar, of 24 Parganas. He has also set up several businesses, reports Bangladeshi private channel Somoy TV.

According to ACC sources, the agency has so far filed 36 cases against Halder over embezzlement of around Tk2,800 crore from four organisations. 

The charge sheets of three cases have been prepared so far, which will be submitted soon.

According to the sources, at least 15 more cases could be filed soon over laundering Tk1,000 crore. 

Enquiries into various other charges are still ongoing. Once all the enquiries end, the number of cases against Halder and his accomplices may exceed 100.

Earlier this year, the ACC filed the charge sheet in a case against PK Halder on the charge of acquiring around Tk426 crore by illegal means and laundering 11.7 million Canadian dollars to Canada.