ACC obtains information on embezzlement of additional Tk1,251cr by PK Halder

Prashanta Kumar Halder alias PK Halder and his associates embezzled an additional Tk1,251 crore from FAS Finance and Investment Limited, a non-banking financial institution. They now owe about Tk1,379 crore to the company in total.

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has sent all the information and evidence to the review committee of the money laundering unit of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), sources at the ACC told The Business Standard.

According to the information received by the ACC, PK Halder and his associates took 65% of the total loans issued by FAS Finance. They did not repay the loans, which they received under the guise of several organizations.

According to ACC sources, PK Halder has swindled around Tk11,000 crore from various financial institutions, using 30 entities owned by him and his associates. ACC officials have evidence that he laundered a large portion of the funds abroad.

Meanwhile, one of PK Halder's main associates and former managing director of International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL) Rashedul Haque, who has been remanded in the ACC case, has given a confessional statement in court.

Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Baki Billah recorded his confessional statement on Tuesday afternoon. The ACC arrested Rashedul on 24 January this year.

The sources at the ACC said Rashedul was a long-time acquaintance and colleague of PK Halder and worked alongside him as a managing director of Reliance Finance in 2010.

Rashedul later joined ILFSL as the managing director in 2015. He has destroyed ILFSL by disbursing loans of Tk2,500 crore to about 40 companies without following any rules and regulations.

An ACC team led by the commission's Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar has been investigating PK Halder for quite some time.

Following a lengthy investigation, the team filed five cases against PK Halder and his 30 associates on 25 January.

The ACC sources said that more cases would be filed soon. The bank accounts of 82 of PK Halder's associates of have already been frozen due to fraud in ILFSL. Ten individuals, including the managing director and chief financial officer of ILFSL have been banned from traveling abroad.

On 8 January last year, the ACC filed a case against PK Halder for allegedly acquiring illegal assets worth around Tk275 crore. The investigation in that case is also continuing.

As part of that investigation, PK Halder's cousin Shankha Bepari, close associate Anindita Baral, tax lawyer Sukumar Mridha and his daughter Anindita Mridha were arrested by the ACC Deputy Director Md Salahuddin.

On 28 June last year, PK Halder, who has been residing overseas, appealed to ILFSL's current managing director to make arrangements for his return to Bangladesh.

Although the court allowed it, PK Halder did not return, and an arrest warrant was issued against him through Interpol. The Dhaka Special Judge's Court has already ordered the seizure of all of PK Halder's real estate.