DHAKA — Sitanshu Kumar Sur Chowdhury, the former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, was arrested on Monday in a money laundering case linked to the infamous Hallmark Group loan scam. The arrest was ordered by Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Partha Bhadra after the investigation officer, Sayedur Rahman of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), presented him before the court.
SK Sur, though not originally named in the first information report (FIR), was implicated due to his role as deputy governor during the Hallmark Group loan scandal, which involved a staggering amount of Tk 3,500 crore. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been investigating his involvement in the case.
The case was filed by the ACC on December 26, 2018, against Hallmark Group officials Tusher Ahmed, Mohammad Aslam Uddin, and Sumon Bhuiyan. They were accused of making suspicious transactions involving Tk 13.5 crore, which allegedly came from illicit sources, and attempting to conceal the origin of the money.
As part of the ongoing investigation, the ACC seized assets worth Tk 4.70 crore from a Bangladesh Bank locker belonging to SK Sur Chowdhury. The assets recovered include 1,005.4 grams of gold, $169,300, €55,000, and a fixed deposit receipt of Tk 70 lakh. These assets are now under the custody of Bangladesh Bank, as confirmed by ACC director general Md Aktar Hossain in a press briefing.
The investigation revealed that Bangladesh Bank officials, including SK Sur, were permitted to maintain personal lockers within the bank for storing valuables. However, the ACC operation followed SK Sur’s failure to provide information about his assets, despite being asked to do so.
On January 19, the commission raided Sur’s residence in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, recovering Tk 16.25 lakh in cash, as well as savings certificates and insurance papers worth Tk 4.45 crore. Additionally, information regarding three flats owned by Sur was obtained.
On January 14, SK Sur was arrested in a separate case related to his failure to submit his wealth statement, which led to his imprisonment. The ACC also filed three cases against Sur, his wife Suparna Sur Chowdhury, and daughter Nandita Sur Chowdhury for non-compliance with notices requesting their wealth statements.
SK Sur has come under scrutiny for alleged ties to Prashanta Kumar Haldar (PK Halder), a former managing director of NRB Global Bank, and the main suspect in several financial fraud cases in Bangladesh. PK Halder was arrested in India in May 2022 on money laundering charges but was recently granted bail.
In connection with these investigations, the ACC has frozen the bank accounts of SK Sur and his family members. Additionally, the National Board of Revenue ordered banks to freeze their accounts in July 2022 as part of an ongoing probe into tax evasion.