6 ex-officials of Oriental Bank jailed in graft case

Five former officials of Oriental Bank Limited were jailed for 68 years while another for 34 years in four corruption cases.

Shah Mohammad Harun, former senior vice president of the bank;  Abul Kashem Mahmudulla, ex-senior assistant vice president; Md Fazlur Rahman, ex-assistant vice president; Mahmud Hossain, ex-senior assistant vice president; and Quamrul Islam, ex-executive vice president were jailed for 68 years.

Judge Md Akhteruzzaman of the Special Judges Court-5 of Dhaka also fined the five Tk 4 crore each in the four cases.

Md Torikul Alam, former executive officer of Oriental Bank, was sentenced to 34 years in prison and also fined Tk 2 crore in two, out of the four, cases.

The court also sentenced proprietor of M/S Asaz Uddin Traders Salauddin to 17 years’ imprisonment and fined Tk 1 crore in one of the cases.

Meanwhile, Imam Ul Haque, former deputy managing director, was acquitted of the cases.

As all the convicts have been shown fugitive, the punishment will be effective from the day of their arrest or surrender, the court said. 

The then Bureau of Anti-Corruption on December 29, 2006 had filed the cases with Motijheel Police Station.

The private bank was hit by scams in 2005-06. In 2006, Bangladesh Bank took over the bank and appointed an administrator.

Later, the bank was sold to a Malaysia-based business group and renamed as ICB Islamic Bank in 2009.