Tanvir on 29-day remand

Arms case filed against the Hall-Mark boss

 

Tanvir Mahmud, managing director of Hall-Mark Group of Industries, and Tushar Ahmed, general manager of the company, were each placed on a 24-day remand in three cases over the Sonali Bank loan scam yesterday.
The Hall-Mark MD was also placed on an additional five days' remand in an arms case.
The Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka passed the orders upon petitions by the Anti-Corruption Commission and Pallabi police.
Tanvir and Tushar, a brother-in-law of Tanvir, face 11 cases filed by the ACC in connection with swindling Tk 1,568 crore out of state-owned Sonali Bank using fake documents and in violation of banking rules.
Of the sum, Tk 219.07 crore was taken in favour of Anwara Spinning Mills, Tk 219.60 crore in favour of Hall-Mark Fashion and Tk 45.48 crore in favour of Hall-Mark Group although none of these companies exist in reality, said the remand petitions in the three cases.
The ACC investigators in their petitions argued that the duo needed to be remanded for interrogation to know the whereabouts of the embezzled money and also the names of the other people involved in the scam.

The petitioners sought to take Tanvir and Tushar on 110 days' remand in the 11 cases.
But the court could hear the remand petitions in three cases, court sources said, adding that hearing on the rest of the cases will be held on a later date.
The ACC on October 4 sued seven officials of the controversial Hall-Mark and 20 officials of Sonali Bank over the fraud.
According to an audit report, the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch of Sonali Bank had disbursed Tk 3,606 crore in loan to Hall-Mark and five other companies defying banking rules.
The Bangladesh Bank also revealed massive irregularities in sanctioning and disbursing of loans, especially to the little-known Hall-Mark.
During Sunday night's arrest from a house in the capital's Mirpur, Rapid Action Battalion recovered a foreign pistol, four bullets and a magazine from Tanvir's possession, Rab's media and legal wing Director Captain M Sohail told The Daily Star.
The elite force filed an arms case against Tanvir on the same night, said Abdul Latif, officer-in-charge of Pallabi Police Station.
Pallabi police yesterday filed a petition to take Tanvir on a 10-day remand in the arms case but the Metropolitan Magistrate's Court granted five days' remand.
Meanwhile, Subedar Mizanur Rahman of Rab-4 filed another case with Savar police against Tanvir, Tushar and 500 to 600 unknown people on charges of obstructing the law enforcers and attacking them.
Rab personnel came under attacks by several hundred guards of the company when the elite force went to arrest Tanvir at Hall-Mark factories in Savar early on Sunday, Savar police said.
TANVIR'S ARREST HAILED
Leading business associations yesterday hailed the arrest of Tanvir and Tushar.
“We applaud the government for arresting Tanvir Mahmud,” the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries said in a statement yesterday.
In the statement, nine chambers and associations urged the government to punish those who are involved in the scam directly and indirectly.
FBCCI, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Bangladesh Chamber of Industries signed the statement.

Metro rail project to get underway

Ministry expects no further delay, hopes to finish by 2019

 

The metro rail project has finally gathered momentum after nearly three-year delay over change of route with the government deciding to appoint a consultant to prepare a detailed design of the metro rail from Uttara third phase to Motijheel.
Several international companies that have been short-listed for the job now await the approval of Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), the lone donor of the $2.7 billion project. Jica pledged 80 percent of the project cost.
Officials at Jica and the communications ministry said the short-listed companies would soon be asked to submit their technical and financial proposals for the job of preparing the detailed design and supervising the construction.
They said a firm would be selected for the job in two or three months.
Meanwhile, the communications ministry has set a new target for starting the construction work in 2016 and complete it by December 2019. According to the previous plan, the construction work was supposed to begin in 2013 and end in three years.

The delay has increased the project cost from $1.7 billion to $2.7 billion.
The government is now ready to start loan negotiation with Jica in December as both sides are very sincere about moving fast with the 20.1 kilometre metro rail project.
The problem over the installation of a depot for the project is about to end with the selection of 22 hectares of private land near Uttara third phase. Officials said the acquisition of land for the depot would begin soon.
The metro rail project, the second largest after the $2.9 billion Padma bridge project, became uncertain last year when the metro route was modified the second time following Air Force's objection. The route running across Bijoy Sarani was diverted towards Khamarbari and the change in route irked Jica.
A change in the route was first made in 2010 to avoid overlapping with the under-construction Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover.
Jica, however, did not desert the project and waited for the government to finalise the route, find a place for the depot and form a company that will eventually operate the metro rail.
Earlier, Jica conducted a study on metro rail, and according to the study, the metro rail will operate every three minutes and carry 60,000 passengers an hour.
Acting Communications Secretary MAN Siddique said there would be no further delay in the project.
“All the necessary things for the project such as appointment of design consultant, acquisition of land for the depot, setting up of a company are on track.”
Jica officials in Dhaka refused to comment on the project before the loan negotiation is done between the government and Jica.
Experts said it would take at least two years to prepare the detailed design and another three to five years to finish the project

Tk 3,606cr Recovery

Sonali Bank mulls differently

Wary of legal implications for forged papers used in Hall-Mark loan

 

The Sonali Bank is looking for ways to get back around Tk 3,600 crore it lent to Hall-Mark and five other companies on false documents as the repayment has become uncertain.
The state-run bank now wants the six companies to sign stamps admitting the liabilities.
“The repayment largely depends on the willingness of the borrowers. Dishonest officials of the bank disbursed the loans without proper documentation,” Pradip Kumar Dutta, managing director of Sonali Bank, said.
“It was forgery, not lending.”
“All the six borrowers were called up to the bank's headquarters on October 1. We've asked them to sign stamps admitting the liabilities,” he said.
Asked why the question of signatures has arisen now, the Sonali MD said, “We need documents to prove that they [borrowers] have taken the loans, so that we can go for legal action if they fail to repay.”
Pradip made the comments to this correspondent after a meeting with a parliamentary probe committee on the Hall-Mark scam last week.
A member of the probe body said it would be very difficult for the bank to recover the money.
“The bank did not follow the rules and maintain documents in giving the [Tk 3,600 crore] loans,” said the lawmaker wishing not to be named. But common people have too much hassle while borrowing only Tk 50,000.
Bank officials told The Daily Star yesterday that none of the borrowers put their signatures yet.
According to bankers, a bank has to follow certain procedures before giving a loan to businesses or individuals.
But no system was followed and no documentation was maintained by the Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch while giving the money to these parties, including the Hall-Mark, managing director of which was arrested Sunday night.

As of August 30, the six businesses owe Sonali Bank Tk 3,595.61 crore. Net liabilities of Hall-Mark stand at Tk 2,668.38 crore, T and Brothers Tk 672.99 crore, Paragon Knit Tk 146.21 crore, Nakshi Knit Tk 66.62 crore, DN Sports Tk 36.24 crore and Khan Jahan Ali Tk 5.17 crore.

There were also not adequate mortgages against these loans -- particularly those given to Hall-Mark and T and Brothers -- during the disbursement of the amount.
The Hall-Mark mortgaged 24.81 acre land while taking the loans between 2010 and this year and another 21.77 acre after the scam was detected in May.
Similarly, T and Brothers took nearly Tk 673 crore by mortgaging only 192.40-decimal land. After the scam was detected, it mortgaged another 502.88 decimal.
The loans granted to the two companies are estimated at 93 percent of the total liabilities.