Hallmark MD Tanvir, wife sentenced to life imprisonment

A Dhaka court has sentenced Hallmark Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud and his wife Jasmine Islam, the company's chairman, to life imprisonment in one of the 11 cases related to Sonali Bank's loan corruption amounting to approximately Tk4,000 crore.

Judge Md Abul Kashem of Dhaka's Special Judge Court 1 announced the verdict on Tuesday.

Apart from Tanvir and his wife, the accused in jail in the case include Hallmark General Manager Tushar Ahmed, former GM of Sonali Bank Head Office Mir Mohidur Rahman, Deputy General Manager (DGM) Md Safiuddin Ahmed, Deputy Managing Director (DMD) Mainul Haque, AGM Md Kamrul Hossain Khan and Md Abdul Malek of Nakshi Knit.

Among the absconding accused are Paragon Group MD Saiful Islam Raja, Sonali Bank Head Office GM Nani Gopal Nath, Head Office former managing director Humayun Kabir, Assistant Deputy General Manager Md Saiful Hasan, Executive Officer Abdul Matin, Max Spinning Mills owner Mir Zakaria, Director of T and Brothers Taslim Hasan and Senior Executive Officer of Sonali Bank Dhanmondi Branch Meherunnesa Mary.

Besides, Md Jamal Uddin Sarkar, the former chairman of Tetuljhora Union Parishad of Hemayetpur in Savar, is on bail.

Following the arguments presented on January 28, the court scheduled the verdict for February 28. However, on that day, the court postponed the verdict announcement and instead decided to gather testimonies. After hearing the witnesses' testimonies, the court set March 12 for the presentation of arguments. Subsequently, on that date, after arguments were presented by both the state and the defendants, the court scheduled March 19 for the verdict announcement.

In the case, the accused embezzled Tk10.5 crore with a loan of around Tk526 crore in the name of non-existent Max Spinning Mills.

On October 4, 2012, the ACC filed the case against the accused in the capital's Ramna police station on charges of fraud and embezzlement.

On March 27, 2016, the Metropolitan Sessions Court of Dhaka framed charges against the defendants and ordered the transfer to Dhaka Special Judge Court-1.

In the case, the court accepted the testimony of 57 out of 81 witnesses in the charge sheet.