7 ex-Oriental Bank officials get life in prison for graft

A Dhaka court on Tuesday sentenced seven former officials of Oriental Bank to life imprisonment in a graft case. The convicts are former vice-chairman Shah Mohammad Harun, senior assistant vice-chairman Abul Kashem Mahmudullah, former senior executive vice-president Mahmud Hossain, former deputy general manager Enamul Haque, and three other officials -- Fazlur Rahman, Tariqul Islam and Kamrul Islam. The court also fined them Tk 10,795,000. The court sentenced them to seven years’ imprisonment on another count in the case and fined them Tk20,000 each.
All the convicts were tried in absentia as they have been on the run since the filing of the case in 2006. The jail term will be effective from the day of their arrests or surrender. Deputy director of the Anti Corruption Commissioner (ACC) Syed Ahmad filed the case against the former Oriental Bank officials with Motijheel Police Station on December 29, 2006 for misappropriating Tk 10,795,000 in the name of giving loan to a name-only organisation. The ACC submitted charge sheet against them on December 31, 2012. After examining the records and witnesses, Judge of Special Judge Court-5 of Dhaka Akhteruzzaman delivered the verdict.