Investigators have so far been able to trace the whereabouts of Tk 1,150 crore out of about Tk 2,500 crore misappropriated allegedly by PK Halder and his accomplices from International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL).

In January, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed five cases against Halder and 32 others for laundering about Tk 350 crore of ILFSL.

In a recent development, the investigators have found involvement of Halder, a former managing director of now-defunct NRB Global Bank, and 39 others in laundering another Tk 800 crore taken as loan from the non-bank financial institution (NBFI).

This finding has already been submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission, an ACC official, familiar with the development, told The Daily Star.

Once the commission gives approval, 10 cases will be filed against the suspects, who include a former chairman, members of board of directors, managing director, and deputy managing directors of ILFSL, said the official, wishing not to be named.

The official did not go into details.

"We're working hard to trace the rest of the money. More cases will be filed later," said the ACC official.

Apart from allegedly misappropriating about Tk 2,500 crore from ILFSL, Halder and his accomplices face allegations of laundering about Tk 2,200 crore from FAS Finance, Tk 3,000 crore from Peoples' Leasing and Tk 2,500 crore from Reliance Finance between 2009 and 2019.

Chairman of People's Leasing Uzzal Kumar Nandi has recently in a confessional statement described how Halder had played tricks and put his men at the helm of the four NBFIs and misappropriated the funds.

Halder took loans from the financial institutions against at least two dozen non-existent companies created by him. In some cases, he used part of the funds to repay instalments of loans taken against his several fictitious firms.

In his statement before a metropolitan magistrate of Dhaka on February 15, Uzzal said Halder bought Radisson Blue Hotel in Cox's Bazar from one Abdul Alim Chowdhury at Tk 127 crore.

"…. While he [Halder] was the managing director of Reliance Finance in 2014, he managed to get a loan through fake documents from the NBFI. He bought a hotel with the money," said Uzzal.

Between 2009 and 2015, Halder brought out over thousand crores of taka from Reliance.

"When pressure was mounted on him to return the money, Halder managed to get loan from International Leasing, Peoples Leasing and FAS Finance through fake documents," said Uzzal.

ASSETS SEIZED

Halder and his aides' moveable and immoveable properties worth around Tk 2,600 crore have been frozen.

Of the amount, Tk 1,100 crore was at different bank accounts, said ACC sources.

Investigators have seized the land of an under-construction five-star hotel in Cox's Bazar, a 10-storey building in Uttara, one flat in Dhanmondi, 66-kantha plot in Farmgate and 57 acres of land in Narayanganj's Rupganj. The properties are worth about Tk 1,500 crore.

Halder came to the limelight during the anti-casino drives in the country in 2019. The ACC launched an investigation into the involvement of 43 people, including Halder, in the illegal casino business.

The anti-graft watchdog issued a travel ban on Halder on October 22, 2019, and sent the notice to immigration police by post. The officials received it at 4:30pm the next day.

Less than an hour before immigration police received his travel ban notice, Halder, however, fled the country through Jashore's Benapole land port.

Halder is believed to be in Canada.