ACC summons 14 accomplices of PK Halder

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has summoned 14 associates of Prashanta Kumar Halder alias PK Halder, who is on the run after siphoning off thousands of crores of taka from Bangladesh, for interrogation.

According to sources at the graft watchdog, a four-member panel including the head of the enquiry team and ACC Deputy Director Md Gulshan Anwar Pradhan will question the accomplices at the commission's Segunbagicha headquarters.

On Thursday, the ACC issued notices to Ratan Kumar Biswas, proprietor of RB Enterprise; Prashant Deuri, managing director of Arthscope Ltd; Md Mostafizur Rahman, director of Arthscope Ltd; Swapan Kumar Mistry, chairman of Neutral Ltd; Subrata Das, chairman of Wakama Ltd; Subra Rani Ghosh, director of Wakama Lee; and Tofazzwal Hossain, director of Wakama Ltd.

The other PK Halder's accomplices to be served with ACC notice are Uttam Kumar Mistry, managing director of Kolasin Ltd; Atashi Mridha, chairman of Kolasin Ltd; Sushmita Saha, managing director of Hal International Ltd; Gopal Chandra Ganguly, proprietor of G&G Enterprise; Abu Rajib Maruf, managing director of Drinan Apparels; and Ram Prasad Roy, proprietor of Kanika Enterprise.

In the notice, the corruption watchdog asked PK Halder's associates to appear before the four-member interrogation panel on different dates next week.

According to court sources, referring to a confessional statement, a former deputy governor and a former general manager of the central bank were on the payroll of PK Halder, former managing director of NRB Global Bank and International Leasing and Financial Services Ltd.

Rashedul Haque, a close aide to Halder and also a former managing director of the leasing company, gave the confessional statement on Tuesday. ACC arrested Rashedul on 24 January. He is accused in five fraud cases of International Leasing.

In his confession to court, Rashedul said PK Halder used to approve and disburse loans to clients within a couple of days without any verification. In many cases, even the clients were in dark about loans taken in their names. Halder thus embezzled hundreds of crores of taka.

According to the ACC, while he was the managing director of Reliance Finance, PK Halder made his relatives the independent directors of several other leasing companies. He then used various means to embezzle money from these companies, including People's Leasing.

Following the embezzlement, PK Halder fled the country.

According to the ACC enquiry, Halder and his accomplices misappropriated around Tk11,000 crore. Of the institutions, they embezzled Tk3,500 crore from the International Leasing, Tk2,200 crore from FAS Finance, Tk2,500 crore from Reliance Finance, and around Tk3,000 crore from People's Leasing.

The ACC investigation also revealed that PK Halder has siphoned Tk1,000 crore to Canada, Singapore, and India.