Bangladesh Police has requested Interpol to issue a red notice on Proshanta Kumar Halder, who is facing a graft case for illegally amassing wealth and has allegedly laundered over Tk 10,000 crore from four non-banking financial institutions abroad.
The National Central Bureau (NCB) of Bangladesh Police has made the request, Mohiul Islam, assistant inspector general (NCB) of Police Headquarters, told The Daily Star.
He said they sent a letter to Interpol on Monday with all details of the former managing director of NRB Global Bank, also known as PK Halder. The letter will be placed before a commission of independent lawyers, he said.
The commission will analyse the details in the files that the NCB sent and then a red notice will be issued publicly, said the NCB official.
"It may take sometime, but we are expecting the notice will be issued soon," he added.
The four NBFIs are: International Leasing and Financial Services Limited, People's Leasing, FAS Finance and Investment and Reliance Finance.
The Anti-Corruption Commission on January 8 last year filed a case against PK Halder on charges of illegally amassing wealth worth Tk 275 crore.
In another development, the High Court yesterday issued a travel ban against 25 accomplices of PK Halder, including his mother Lilaboti Halder, so that the ACC can question them about money laundering allegations.
While hearing a suo moto rule, the court ordered the authorities concerned of the government to restrain them from leaving the country till further order.
It also asked the ACC to question them in accordance with the law if it feels necessary.
The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Ahmed Sohel came up with the order after five depositors of People's Leasing and Financial Service (PLFS), a non-banking financial institution, submitted the names of 25 accomplices of PK Halder before the court and said they abetted Halder embezzling and laundering a huge amount of money from PLFS abroad.
The 24 other accomplices are: SK Sur, Harunur Rashid, Uzzal Kumar Nandi, Shami Huda, Amitavh Adhikary, Abontika Boral, Shamima, Runai, NI Khan, Sukumar Mridha, Anindita Mridha, Tapan Dey, Swapan Kumar Mistri, Avijit Chowdhury, Rajib Shom, Erfan Uddin Ahmed, Angan Mohan Roy, Nongo Chow Mong, Nizamul Ahsan, Manik Lal Somaddar, Sohel Shams, Mahbub Musa, AQ Siddique and Moazzem Hossain.
Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik confirmed it.
The five depositors are: Nashid Kamal, a former Dhaka University teacher and daughter of former chief justice Mustafa Kamal; Samia Binte Mahbub, a housewife; Tariqul Islam, an official of Khaled Mansur Trust, a welfare organisation; Showkatur Rahman, a freedom fighter and former director of DU gymnasium, and Raziul Hasan, a retired ambassador.
They also submitted separate statements before the HC bench, describing their plights.
They said they are not getting their deposited money back from PLFS after PK Halder and his accomplices embezzled huge sums from the organisation and laundered it abroad.
ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan and DAG Amin Uddin Manik also submitted two separate reports to the HC, saying that the ACC and the government have sent relevant documents to Interpol to issue a red notice on PK Halder and to arrest him.
The HC bench fixed January 20 for further hearing and passing an order on this issue.
In another development, the ACC yesterday issued notices to seven persons to appear before it next week to face questioning over embezzlement of over Tk 3,500 crore from Peoples' Leasing.
In separate letters, ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anowar Prodhan asked former chairman of Peoples' Leasing Motiur Rahman and its former director Arefin Shamsul Alamin to appear on January 11, proprietors of Nature Enterprise Nawsher Ul Islam, Momtaz Begum and Papia Banarjee on January 12 and 13, and proprietors of MTB Marine Ltd Sanjeeb Kumar Hawlader and Basudev Banarjee on January 12.
According to Canadian media reports, PK Halder is now staying in Toronto. He is director of P&L Hal Holding Inc, a Canadian corporation.
Following a petition filed by two depositors, the HC on January 21 last year directed the Bangladesh Bank and all private banks to freeze the accounts of PK Halder, his five relatives, Bank Asia's former managing director Erfanudidn Ahmed and PK Halder's aide Uzzal Kumar Nondi for allegedly misappropriating funds.
The court also ordered the seizure of passports of 20 people, including PK Halder, his wife Susmita Saha and his brother Pritish Kumar Halder and halted the transfer of ownership of any of their movable and immovable properties, including stocks, cash and cars, to any persons or entities until the disposal of the case.
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