Muhith hopeful, Muhith doubtful

The government's immediate target is to retrieve half of the Tk 3,800 crore swindled out of Sonali Bank by Hall-Mark Group and five other companies, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said yesterday.
"We do not know how much of the money can be recovered … but at least Tk 2,000 crore of the Tk 3,800 crore can be retrieved," he said.
The minister continued to blame the media coverage on the fraud, saying all the money could have been retrieved only if there were less publicity.
"We are facing problems because of the media's hue and cry. When there is no hullabaloo this type of people can be dealt with strong hands. If there is much uproar the accused decides to go to courts.
"I do not know what will happen if they [the accused] go to court. I do not have the right to comment on this," he said.
Muhith went on to insist that the swindled money was not at all a big sum -- a comment he made on Tuesday, dumbfounding many.
"I am still saying so. Last year banks gave loans of Tk 40,000 crore.
"True, it is very bad for one institution like Sonali Bank. But if it is said that the banking sector has collapsed as a result, it would be sensationalism, which is what I am afraid of.
"People from the US and the UK telephoned me to ask if the banking sector was collapsing."
Replying to a query, the minister said he did not know if his comments would encourage people to swindle money out of state-run banks.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) quizzed Hall-Mark Group's General Manager Tusher Ahmed over the loan scam.
Talking to the media following the interrogation at the ACC headquarters, Ahmed outright rejected all the allegations against his company.
“We have taken the loan in proper ways and maintained all the legal procedures. We did not fake any document,” he said.
A six-member investigation team headed by ACC Deputy Director Mir Md Zainul Abedin Shebly interrogated Ahmed for more than three hours.
Earlier on Sunday, Tanvir Mahmud, managing director of the Group, and his wife Jasmine Islam, also chairman of the company, were quizzed by the commission.
Asked why Hall-Mark has been involved in land grabbing, Tusher Ahmed said, “We sand-filled the land we purchased, it was not grabbing.”
“Why are you [the media] after the loan only? We export goods worth millions of dollars and earn foreign currency for the country. Why don't you write that?” Tusher said.
On May 25, a Dhaka court ordered arrest of the Hall-Mark Group MD after the environment department fined the company Tk 40 lakh over land grabbing.