17 face ACC cases over Tk15cr embezzlement in Premier Bank ads
ACC Director General Akhtar Hossain confirmed that the cases were sanctioned from the commission's headquarters.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has approved 11 cases against 17 individuals, including former Premier Bank chairman HBM Iqbal, his two sons, former MP Salam Murshedi, BH Harun, and several top bank officials, over alleged embezzlement of Tk15.13 crore in advertising funds during 2021–2022.
ACC Director General Akhtar Hossain confirmed that the cases were sanctioned on Wednesday (28 January) from the commission's headquarters.
The accused include HBM Iqbal, his sons and directors Mohammad Imran Iqbal and Moin Iqbal, former MP and director Abdus Salam Murshedi, former MP Bazlul Haque Harun, directors Shafiqul Rahman, Jamal Gupta Ahmed, Shaila Sheli Khan, AHM Ferdous, Nob Gopal Bonik, Shah Mohammad Nahian Harun, independent director Kaiser Ahmed Chowdhury, EVP Mohammad Tarek Uddin, deputy managing director Syed Abul Hashem, managing director M Riazul Karim, DMD and head of procurement Syed Nowsher Ali, and Mindtree Limited MD Iqbal Al Mahmud.
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Investigations revealed a long-running scheme involving Mindtree Limited, an advertising vendor, where advance payments were deposited for ad campaigns but later embezzled. Between 4 August 2011 and 25 March 2025, a total of Tk438.71 crore was deposited under the name of Mindtree/Mindtree Limited following HBM Iqbal's directives. While Tk342.29 crore was later adjusted with ad orders from August 2011 to December 2023, Tk96.41 crore remains unaccounted for between December 2023 and March 2025.
The ACC found that during 2021–2022, Premier Bank issued 11 advertising orders worth Tk19.8 crore to Mindtree for broadcast on various television channels. According to agreements, each ad was to run for 100 minutes per channel, but transmission certificates revealed only 50 minutes were aired. Review of bills, vouchers, and pay orders showed that Mindtree received only Tk4.67 crore against the orders, while the remaining Tk15.13 crore was allegedly misappropriated.
The cases have been filed under sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 109 of the Penal Code, along with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, and Sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012.
