Bangladesh will soon talk to Indian counterpart about bringing back PK Haldar and the fortunes he siphoned off, authorities here said Sunday, as the runaway is divulging asset information on remand.
Meanwhile, Haldar, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India on Saturday from Ashok Nagar of North 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, was taken on a three-day remand approved by the state court.
Attorney-General AM Amin Uddin said, "All the necessary legal steps will be taken to bring PK Halder back to the country and produce him to justice as the money he siphoned off is people's money."
While talking to reporters at his office on the Supreme Court premises, the attorney-general also said the Enforcement Directorate of India traced PK Halder's assets and arrested him. Now the next step to his arrest is to bring him back to produce him before court as cases are pending against him.
"We will hold talks with India to bring him (Haldar) back to the country through the prisoner-exchange agreement (the 2016 extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India)," he added.
The chief law officer of the country also informed that the arrest was based on the information provided by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU).
Besides, Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at programme on the day said: "India hasn't yet informed Bangladesh officially about the arrest of PK Haldar; legal measures will be taken in this regard as soon as India contacts formally."
He said PK Haldar has been Bangladesh's most-wanted offender and the authority through the Interpol had issued arrest warrant against the fugitive.
The minister was talking with the reporters on the sidelines of a seminar titled 'Sheikh Hasina's Homecoming: Reconstruction of History' organised at the National Press Club.
During the grilling of Haldar, the ED unveiled that he possessed passports of Bangladesh, India, and Grenada, the ED said in a statement.
According to the statement it has been further revealed that "the subject case is an offence of cross-border implication under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002".
"Proshanta Kumar Halder (PK Halder) has been found to be accused in approximately 100-billion-taka bank frauds in Bangladesh and alleged to have siphoned money outside Bangladesh to various countries," it said.
The ED of India is a law-enforcement and economic-intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India
The law-enforcement agency arrested a total of six persons, including Halder and his associates, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The other detainees are Swapan Maitra alias Swapan Mistry, Uttam Maitra alias Uttam Mistry, Imam Hossain alias Imon Halder, Amana Sultana alias Sharmee Halder, and Pranesh Kumar Halder.
The ED had raided total of 10 locations in search of Mr Haldar and his associates across the state of West Bengal.
Under pseudonym 'Shibshankar', PK Halder forged documents like ration card from West Bengal, Indian Voter ID card, Permanent Account Number and multi-purpose Aadhar card. He also used the new identity to buy property in posh areas of Kolkata, ED sources told Indian media.
The suspect owns at least 20 homes in West Bengal along with investments in New Delhi and Mumbai, they said.
Meanwhile, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said it would take three to six months to bring PK Halder back from India.
He said, "The documents that we have and if the Indian government and their enforcement work at the same pace as they did during the arrest of PK Halder, it will take three to six months to bring him back to the country."
The lawyer also said, "We are fully hopeful about bringing back PK Halder to the country. However, it may take time. He has already been sent to remand in India. Everything will depend on what action they take against him."
Mr Khan said the ACC gave information about PK Halder to India under the Mutual Legal Assistance Request (MLAR) 2012 and based on that the ED conducted raid to arrest PK Halder.
He also said the graft watchdog has completed the investigation of three cases against PK Halder and the authority needs to know how he was able to siphon off that large amount of money.
In the meantime, the ACC is set to file three more cases against two close associates of Halder-Shawapn Kumar Mistry, the owner of Neutral Ltd, and his wife Purnima Rani Haldar.
ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar will file the cases at the commission's integrated district office-1 in Dhaka on Monday.
The commission is also preparing to file 12 more cases against PK Haldar and his accomplices, according to ACC sources.
So far, the commission has lodged 34 cases against Halder and his associates while at least 13 people were arrested of whom 11 have confessed to their involvement in financial scams as per section 164 of the Penal Code.
The commission has issued separate notices to 33 members of PK Haldar syndicate to submit their wealth statements of which 13 failed to do so within stipulated time.
To date, the national anti-graft authority froze bank accounts of 83 individuals who are believed to be the close aides to PK Haldar.
Besides, the commission seized over Tk 10 billion worth of land, building, and flats owned by the members of the PK Haldar syndicate, according to ACC public relations department.
Travel ban has been issued against 64 individuals connected to money laundering, embezzlement, and forgery.
The Interpol in January last year had issued a red corner (maximum alert) notice against Halder on the basis of a complaint by the Bangladesh government.
According to the primary inquiries by the ACC, Haldar in collusion with his associates allegedly misappropriated around Tk 111 billion from different financial institutions in name of several phony companies.
Out of the embezzled money, around Tk 35 billion was taken as loans from International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL), Tk 30 billion from People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited (PLFS), Tk 25 billion from Reliance Finance Ltd, and Tk 22 billion from FAS Finance and Investment.
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