ACC files five cases against HBM Iqbal, others

FE REPORT

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed five cases against former chairman of Premier Bank and Awami League leader HBM Iqbal, and others on charges of embezzlement of Tk 81.7 million in the name of advertisement promotion.

Other accused include board members of the bank, senior officials and an advertising vendor firm.

According to the ACC, the irregularities occurred in 2020 when five work orders totalling Tk 92.5 million were issued to advertising agency Mindtree Limited for airing television commercials (TVCs) of The Premier Bank on various private TV channels.

Investigators discovered that despite the contractual agreement specifying 100 minutes of advertisements per channel, transmission certificates from the TV channels confirmed only 50 minutes were actually broadcasted on each channel. In total, while the contract covered 2,400 minutes of TV commercials, only 1,200 minutes were aired.

ACC officials revealed that out of the five work orders, only Tk 10.8 million was paid to Mindtree Limited, with the remaining Tk 81.7 million allegedly misappropriated through abuse of power, fraudulent documentation, and record manipulation.

The accused include former chairman HBM Iqbal, members of his family who served as directors, other board members, senior management officials, and the managing director of Mindtree Limited, Iqbal Al Mahmud.

The ACC investigation also uncovered a broader pattern of financial irregularities related to advance payments made to Mindtree Limited over an extended period.

tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com