Latest update – On 14 May 2022 Ex NRB Global Bank MD Proshanta Kumar Halder, also known as PK Halder, and his lawyer Sukumar were arrested in Ashoknagar, West Bengal, India.
Six individuals, including PK Halder, were detained. Saturday afternoon, PK Halder was taken into custody at Ashoknagar. Sukumar Mridha, known as a fish merchant in the area, has three homes in Ashoknagar.
PK Halder and his filthy journey
PK Halder, a former senior banker in Bangladesh, is now wanted for swindling approximately Tk 1 billion from non-bank financial firms (NBFIs). With a spectacular rise to the country’s financial apex, PK Halder became IIDFC’s deputy managing director in 2008. Next year, he became MD of S Alam Group’s Reliance Finance. In 2015, he became managing director of S Alam Group’s NRB Global Bank.
Halder took over four financial institutions – International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL), People’s Leasing and Financial Services (PLFS), FAS Finance and Investment Limited, and Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company (BIFC).
Initially, he bought shares in these institutions. Then he borrowed from these companies.
Halder gave MTB Marine Ltd. Tk60 crore in 2017. The firm never received the money. Instead, it was moved to his organizations and associates. Padma Weaving Ltd. received Tk 5.5 crore, Paramount Agro Tk 14, Ookayama Limited Tk 3, Tasmiha Book Binding Tk 1.08 crore, JK Trade International Tk 11 crore, and JK Trade International Tk 4 crore.
These were only paper organizations.
How much wealth did PK Halder possess?
ACC said Halder spent Tk 933 crore on land, apartments, and hotels in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, and other regions. He also built an eight-story hotel in Cox’s Bazar.
He bought Purnima Rani Halder and her brother Uttam Kumar flats in Dhanmondi, Tejgaon, Tejturi Bazar, and Green Road.
The authorities have frozen the bank accounts of 83 and seized properties worth around Tk 1,000 crore.
How PK Halder’s scams were revealed?
In 2019, the Anti-Corruption Commission investigated the riches of illegal casino owners and discovered Halder’s financial misdeeds. On January 22, 2020, the High Court seized Halder’s possessions, bank accounts, and passports.
His escape was likewise restricted by the court, yet he managed to do so.
Interpol’s Red Alert
Interpol issued a red corner (highest alert) warning to Halder in January last year after the Bangladesh government complained.
What PK Haldar was doing in India?
Under the alias Shivshankar Haldar, PK Haldar resided in West Bengal by forging numerous official identification documents, including the Ration Card, Indian Voter ID Card, Permanent Account Number, and Aadhaar Card. He utilized his smuggled funds to purchase both mobile and immovable property in several locations, including the most prestigious sections of Kolkata.
What will happen to PK Halder Next?
India is likely to hand over Prashanta Kumar Halder to Bangladesh. Halder was brought before a court in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on May 15, 2022, for interrogation.
Halder might also be punished in India for unlawfully entering West Bengal and obtaining an Election Commission Card, Permanent Account Number PAN, and Aadhar cards with forged documents and a false claim of Indian nationality.
“He would be brought to Bangladesh”
Enforcement Directorate Sources
People thought Halder was in Canada. The Indian Enforcement Directorate (ED) caught the master fraudster from West Bengal.
ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said PK Halder may soon be repatriated since Bangladesh and India have a prisoner exchange arrangement.
