Court opens hearing on ACC case against PK Halder, 13 others

A Dhaka court has started to record testimonies against Proshanta Kumar Halder, the former managing director of NRB Global Bank and Reliance Finance Limited, and 13 others in a case over money laundering and accumulation of illegal wealth worth Tk 4.25 billion, reports bdnews24.com.
Judge Mohammad Nazrul Islam of Dhaka Special Court-10 recorded the testimony of plaintiff Md Salahuddin, deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, on Thursday.
Defence counsel Ehsanul Haque Shomaji and Shahinur Islam sought time for questing Salahuddin afterwards. The court fixed Oct 13 for the plaintiff's cross-examination following their plea, ACC lawyer Mir Ahmed Ali Salam said.
Several expert lawyers were present in the courtroom to observe the testimony recording.
"Our initial investigation found his wealth was calculated at Tk 2.83 billion. He had received Tk 1.2 billion out of the amount as his salary from two organisations. He was named in the case as the rest of his net worth, Tk 2.74 billion, was beyond known sources of income. But the information about his illegal wealth - Tk 4.25 billion - was revealed during the investigation. Another Tk 60.8 billion worth of disproportionate and unusual transactions were made from his bank account," Salahuddin said in his statement.
"PK Halder laundered a total of Tk 16.35 billion to his Canadian bank account. He transferred Tk 2.40 billion using his name and Tk 1.60 billion using his mother's name. The rest of the money was transferred to the foreign bank account using the names of NRB Global Bank, Reliance Finance Limited and his relatives."
The court ordered a trial against PK Halder and 13 others in the case on Sept 8, fixing Sept 22 for the hearing.
Four suspects - Sukumar Mridha, Halder's daughter Anindita Mridha, Shanka Bapari and Abantika Baral - were present in the courtroom during the recording of the testimonies.
PK Halder is currently in prison in India. He and nine others have been registered as 'absconding' and the trial is to continue in their absence.
The nine other absconding suspects are PK Halder's mother Lilabati Halder, Purnima Rani Halder, Uttam Kumar Mistri, Amitabh Adhikari, Pritish Kumar Halder, Rajib Shob, Subrata Das, Ananga Mohan Roy, and Swapan Kumar Mistri.
ACC's Salahuddin initiated a case against Halder, who fled the country last year, for reportedly amassing Tk 2.75 billion worth of illegal assets in 2020. The anti-graft watchdog official pressed charges against Halder in the case in 2022.