Hallmark Group MD Tanvir, jailed for loan fraud, dies while serving sentence

He passes away at hospital after being transferred from prison around 1:30pm, authorities say

Hallmark Group’s managing director Md Tanvir Mahmud has died while serving his prison sentence for a long-standing loan fraud case.

Prison authorities reported that he passed away at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Saturday night around 10:30pm.

Assistant Inspector General of Prisons (Development) Md Jannat ul Forhad said Tanvir was sent from Dhaka Central Jail to the hospital around 1:30pm and formally admitted at 4pm.

The case against Tanvir dates back nearly a decade. He was accused of embezzling Tk 100 million through a fictitious company. On Jun 19, 2024, a court sentenced him, his wife Jasmine Islam -- the company chairperson, along with six others, to life imprisonment.

The scandal involved the misappropriation of roughly Tk 40 billion in loans from Sonali Bank in 2012, prompting 11 separate cases against Hallmark officials and Sonali Bank personnel.

While several verdicts have been delivered in those cases, Tanvir and Jasmine were not defendants. Their life sentences were handed down in a 2012 Anti-Corruption Commission case filed with Ramna Police.