Four ex-Dhaka Bank officials jailed for 20 years in forgery, embezzlement case

A Dhaka court has sentenced four former officials of Dhaka Bank Limited to 20 years' imprisonment under three separate charges for forgery, criminal breach of trust and embezzlement in connection with a fraudulent loan case.

The verdict was delivered on Thursday by Judge Muhammad Hasanuzzaman of the Special Judge's Court-1 in Dhaka.

The convicts are Kazi Farid Uddin Ahmed, former Executive Vice President of the bank's Central Accounts and Investment Division; Abu Mohammad Sayeed Khan, former Vice President; and former Senior Principal Officers Prabir Kumar Bhowmik and Shawkat Ali.

The court sentenced each of them to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and fined Tk50,000 for criminal breach of trust, with an additional six months' imprisonment in default of payment.

They were also sentenced to five years' imprisonment and fined 20,000 taka each for forgery, with an additional three months' imprisonment in default.

In addition, the court handed each of them another five-year prison term and fined 25,000 taka for embezzlement, with a further three months' imprisonment in default of payment.

The court ordered that all three sentences would run concurrently, meaning each convict will serve a maximum of 10 years in jail.

As Shawkat Ali remains absconding, the court issued an arrest warrant against him. The remaining three convicts were sent to jail after the verdict.

According to the prosecution, Mohammad Yusuf Ali opened an account with Dhaka Bank on Nov 4, 2002, and obtained a loan of 17 lakh taka. He later increased the loan limit to 24 lakh taka by depositing what were claimed to be 1,000 shares of Confidence Cement and 7,500 shares of Meghna Cement as collateral.

Subsequent verification found the share certificates to be forged. Investigators alleged that Yusuf Ali fraudulently obtained and misappropriated the loan using fake shares, while Shawkat Ali assisted him by identifying him during the account-opening process.

The case was filed with Motijheel Police Station on May 31, 2008, by Sirajul Haque, then Senior Vice President of Dhaka Bank.

The Anti-Corruption Commission initially submitted a charge sheet against Shawkat Ali alone on Dec 14, 2008.

Following further investigation, the ACC submitted a fresh charge sheet on Aug 22, 2023, implicating all four former bank officials in the case.