Five Oriental Bank officials get 68 years, two businessmen 17 years in jail for corruption

A Dhaka court has handed down 68 years of prison terms to five former officials of the defunct Oriental Bank in four separate cases of financial embezzlement.

Court Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 17 April 2018, 01:33 PM
Updated : 17 April 2018, 01:33 PM

The convicted bank officials are Principal Branch Senior Vice-President Shah Md Harun, Senior Assistant Vice-President Md Abul Kashem Mahmudullah, Senior Executive Vice-President Mahmud Hossain, Executive Vice-President Quamrul Islam and Assistant Vice-President Md Fazlur Rahman.

In one case, two businessmen, Md Salahuddin of MS Afzuddin Traders and Tariqul Islam of Noor and Sons - two clients of the bank - got 17 years of jail for their involvement in the embezzlement.

Dhaka Special Court No. 5 Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman announced the verdict on Tuesday on the case filed against them 12 years ago.

Deputy general manager of the bank Emamul Haque has been acquitted in all four cases.

Only one accused, Emamul Haque, was present in court during the verdict. All other accused, who have been convicted by the court, are absconding, said court official Mokarram Hossain.

The Anti-Corruption Commission started 34 cases at different police stations on Dec 29, 2006.

According to the case dossier, a total of Tk 30.4 million was misappropriated by the Oriental Bank officials in 2005-06.

The bank had plunged into trouble due to financial anomalies and corruption during the end of BNP-led coalition government.

The back changed the ownership in 2009 to become ICB Islami Bank that took over the assets and liabilities of Oriental Bank.

The four cases were filed with Motijheel police. The investigation officers submitted filed the charge sheets of the cases in court in 2013.