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Based on forged documents, Sonali’s Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch lent the Hallmark Group and five other associate companies Tk3,547 crore between 2010 and 2012
Sonali Bank was able to recover only Tk457 crore out of Tk3,000 crore in bad loans stuck with the Hallmark Group in the eight years since 2012, despite various attempts, including legal action, by the state-owned bank.
However, Sonali Bank managing director Ataur Rahman Prodhan said the bank was pursuing every effort to recover the money.
“We have filed cases with the Artha Rin Adalat (also known as the money loan court) against the defaulted loans of Hallmark. The cases are pending now,” he said at a press briefing at the bank on Thursday.
The managing director of Sonali Bank, Ataur Rahman Prodhan, highlighted the success of the bank in the year gone by.
Ataur said about Tk3,000 crore, out of the Bank’s total Tk10,753 crore non-performing loans (NPLs), were stuck with Hallmark.
“If we can recover the money from Hallmark, our NPLs will come down to a single digit,” Ataur said.
Based on forged documents, Sonali’s Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch lent the Hallmark Group and five other associate companies Tk3,547 crore between 2010 and 2012.
Following the detection of the scam in 2012, Hallmark refunded only Tk456.61 crore to the bank.
Mentioning the progress of the bank, Ataur Rahman Prodhan said Sonali Bank had managed to reduce defaulted loans by Tk1,460 crore to Tk10,753 crore till June this year, from Tk12,213 crore a year earlier.
The banks’ operating profit had increased by 58% last year, the managing director said.
The bank’s deposits increased to Tk1,16,730 crore at the end of June this year from Tk1,12,366 crore a year earlier.
Amid the pandemic, Sonali launched a mobile application–Sonali e-Sheba– for easy account opening. As many as 36 thousand accounts have so far been opened through the app.
(DT)
