Is the country a cup? Court

The High Court believes that the country is a money launderer asshole. The court said that the country’s multi-billion rupee smugglers will be out of reach, they will show the go-ahead to all nations, it can’t happen. Is the country a cup? They must be standing on the fence.

Justice Md. A bench of the virtual division of the High Court composed of Nazrul Islam Talukder and Judge Ahmed Sohail made the remarks on Thursday. The court also expressed anger at the escape of Prashant Kumar Haldar (PK), former managing director of NRB Global Bank, who was involved in the smuggling of Tk 3,500 crore. The High Court wanted to know what country he was in and what steps the ACC had taken to bring him back to the country.

The High Court ordered the president of the ACC to submit a report on the corruption case against PK Haldar within 10 days of receiving the self-motivated order.

By the way, billions of rupees have been smuggled out of the country during the tenure of different governments. Lawsuits have been filed against politicians, businessmen, bankers, government employees and others in connection with money laundering. Hundreds of millions of rupees have been smuggled against several of those arrested in the crackdown on casinos last year. The CID brought the case this year on smuggling charges of Tk 2 billion.

Several people, including two prominent brothers from Faridpur, Rubel and Barkat, were charged in the case. No agency in the country has a specific account of how much money has been smuggled out of the country.

However, according to a report by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based research institute in the United States, around £ 6.575 billion was smuggled from Bangladesh in the ten years from 2005 to 2014. In 2015, another $ 5.9 billion was smuggled. As a result, in the last 11 years, total smuggling has been $ 6.165 billion. At present, its market value is 6 lakh 7,600 crore.

The GFI report provides information on money laundering in 148 emerging and developing countries. Bangladesh was ranked 19th on the list. The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) oversees money laundering. This unit works with companies from other countries in the world. The ACC and CID investigate most money laundering cases.

Also, the chancellor on Wednesday on the program ‘Meet the Press’. AK Abdul Momen said that it is not politicians but government employees who are most involved in money laundering abroad.

According to sources, PK Haldar established 39 financial institutions with his relatives while he was managing director of Reliance Finance. He and his associates embezzled Tk 3.5 billion through the bank accounts of 63 people who were directors of these institutions. He is accused of embezzling Tk 1.5 billion rupees from the international lease. Later he emigrated to Canada.

In January, the High Court confiscated the bank accounts and passports of 13 directors, including PK Haldar and their families, and ordered the seizure of all assets. Faced with this situation, International Leasing went to the High Court and said that PK Haldar wants to return to the country. He wants to be in the custody of the court.

On October 21, a single court of the High Court of Judge Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar ordered law enforcement agencies to arrest PK Haldar as soon as he landed at the airport. But he did not return to the country and moved again to Canada from Dubai.

Recently, the ACC took the initiative to bring him back to the country through Interpol. Reports were published in various newspapers, including the Daily Ittefaq. This report came to the attention of a divisional bank yesterday headed by Judge Nazrul Islam Talukder.

The court then ordered ACC prosecutor Khurshid Alam Khan, “We found out about PK Haldar after reading the newspaper.” In the face of such reports, we cannot remain silent without actually giving orders. What is your current position?

The ACC prosecutor said he was a fugitive in the eyes of the law. He promised to return to the country but did not return. Attempts are being made to bring him back through Interpol. He has sent a lot of money abroad. An investigation is ongoing. The High Court says, where is the chance for someone to smuggle billions of rupees out of reach? No one is above the law. It must be returned to the country. How did he earn so much money, how did he smuggle it overseas? You need to know that.

The court said, how did a man take billions of rupees abroad? Appropriate legal action must be taken in this regard.

After the hearing, the Superior Court issued a provisional order and a rule. The rule sought to know if adequate measures had been taken to return PK Haldar to the country or to arrest him. The ACC chairman, the interior secretary and the Dhaka deputy commissioner were asked to respond to the rule.

Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik and Deputy Attorney General Mahjabin Rabbani Deepa were present on behalf of the state. Meanwhile, the ACC has filed a case against PK Haldar for allegedly acquiring illegal assets worth Tk 300 million. The Dhaka Senior Special Judge has ordered the confiscation of his movable and immovable property in that case.

Ittefaq / ZH