Trial begins against S Alam Group chairman Saiful Alam, PK Halder and 11 others

A Dhaka court ordered the commencement of trial against S Alam Group Chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam, former Reliance Finance Limited (now Aviva Finance Ltd) Managing Director Prashanta Kumar (PK) Halder, and 11 others in a corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged embezzlement of Tk24 crore through fraud and abuse of power.

After a hearing, Judge Nur-e-Alam Bhuiyan of Dhaka Special Judge Court-8 framed charges today (28 January) against the accused and fixed 1 March for recording witness testimony.

Other accused in the case include S Alam Group Vice Chairman Abdus Samad, directors Mohammad Abdullah Hasan and Shahana Ferdous, former Reliance Finance EVP Rashedul Haque, former manager Nahida Runai, former SVP Kazi Ahmed Jamal, former deputy manager Jumaratul Banna, and former Marine Vegetable Oils Managing Director Jahir Ahmed, directors Tipu Sultan, Md Ishaq and Md Abdullah Al Mamun.

Among them, Nahida Runai and Rashedul Haque are currently in jail, while the remaining accused are absconding.

During the charge-framing hearing, Nahida Runai and Rashedul Haque pleaded not guilty and sought justice. As the other accused failed to appear, the court issued arrest warrants against them.

ACC prosecutor Delwar Jahan Rumi confirmed the matter, saying the two jailed accused were produced before the court from prison, while the rest remained absconding. Lawyers for the two accused sought their discharge from the case, but the court rejected the plea and ordered charges to be framed.

Earlier, on 11 January, the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court accepted the charge sheet in the case and transferred it to Dhaka Special Judge Court-8 for trial.

According to the case statement, a term loan of Tk24 crore was approved on 3 October 2013 in the name of Tasnim Flour Mills Limited in favour of Messrs Saiful & Co, and the amount was disbursed on 4 November the same year. The money was later transferred to S Alam Super Edible Oil Ltd through the same process.

The ACC filed the case against 13 people on 2 July last year, accusing them of misappropriating the funds. Following an investigation, ACC Assistant Director Md Ismail submitted the charge sheet against all 13 accused on 16 October of the same year.