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A Dhaka court on Thursday sentenced four former officials of Dhaka Bank Limited to a combined 20 years’ imprisonment under three separate charges of criminal breach of trust, forgery and embezzlement in a corruption case.
As the sentences will run concurrently, however, each convict will serve a maximum of 10 years in prison. The verdict was delivered by Judge Md Hasanuzzaman of Dhaka’s Special Judge’s Court-1.
The convicts are former Executive Vice President Kazi Farid Uddin Ahmed, former Vice President Abu Mohammad Saeed Khan, and former Senior Principal Officers Prabir Kumar Bhowmik and Shawkat Ali.
Each was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined Tk 50,000 for criminal breach of trust, five years and Tk 20,000 for forgery, and another five years with a Tk 25,000 fine for embezzlement.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam said the three sentences would run concurrently, limiting the effective jail term to 10 years.
Shawkat Ali was absent during the verdict. The court rejected his lawyer’s plea for more time, cancelled his bail and issued an arrest warrant.
The remaining three convicts, who were present in court, were taken into custody and sent to jail after the judgment.
According to the prosecution, Mohammad Yusuf Ali opened an account with Dhaka Bank in November 2002 and obtained a loan of Tk 1.7 million, later increased to Tk 2.4 million, by pledging forged share certificates of Confidence Cement Ltd and Meghna Cement Ltd as collateral.
Investigators alleged that the fake shares were used to fraudulently secure the loan and embezzle the bank’s funds, while Shawkat Ali knowingly assisted Yusuf Ali in opening the account and facilitating the fraud.
The case was filed by the bank in 2008, and after an initial investigation and subsequent reinvestigation, the ACC submitted a fresh charge sheet in 2023 naming the four officials as accused.
The court formally began the trial in January 2025, heard testimony from 14 witnesses, and delivered the verdict after concluding arguments.