State prosecution moves High Court on PK Halder’s arrest

The state prosecution on Monday informed the High Court (HC) about the arrest of Prashant Kumar Halder alias PK Halder in India and sought a hearing date in this regard.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque then set Tuesday for a hearing on the matter.

Earlier in 2020, the HC had issued a suo-muto (voluntary) rule over the arrest and repatriation of PK Halder. 

Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin presented the matter to court today morning (16 May) in accordance with the aforementioned HC move.

At one point during the proceedings, the court said, "Our message is clear. We have zero-tolerance against corruption and money laundering. No one will be spared, no matter who they are."

Lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan was also present at the court representing the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

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

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

He was hiding in a house in the Ashok Nagar area of North 24 Pargana district. 

He had also built 20-22 luxury houses in the area.

Six people, including Halder and his lawyer Sukumar Mridha, were arrested on Saturday (14 May) from Ashok Nagar. 

The other four arrestees are PK Halder's wife, brother Pranesh Halder and two other persons.

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.