Hall-Mark Group's Jesmine gets bail in all 11 cases

---

Jesmine Islam

FE Report The chairman of the controversial Hall-Mark Group, Jesmine Islam, was granted anticipatory bail Thursday in all cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission over the embezzlement of about Tk 26 billion of a branch of the Sonali Bank Ltd. Judge Md Zahirul Haque of the Senior Special Judge's Court granted Mrs Jasmine the bail in 11 cases on the conditions that she would repay the embezzled money to the state-owned commercial bank. The court, however, did not fix any date for the repayment. In a petition, the lawyer of the Hall-Mark group chairperson mentioned that she would pay the amount back in consultation with the bank management after walking out of the jail, court sources said. A Bangladesh Bank investigation team earlier found that Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch had disbursed nearly Tk 36 billion in loans to the Hall-Mark Group and five other business entities on forged documents. Of the amount, the Hall-Mark group alone had taken around Tk 26 billion breaching the country's existing banking rules. The ACC on September 4 last filed the 11 cases against 27 people, including Hall-Mark Group Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud and six other top executives of the group with the Ramna Police Station. Later, Mrs Jesmine, her husband Tanvir Mahmud and her brother as well as general manager of the Group Tushar Ahmed were arrested in the cases.