Ex-Premier Bank chair sued over Tk8.17cr embezzlement

Staff Reporter :

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed five cases against former Premier Bank chairman HBM Iqbal and 14 others on charges of embezzling Tk8.17 crore under the guise of advertisement promotion.

ACC Director General Akhtar Hossain disclosed the matter on Tuesday. Those accused include several directors of the bank, its managing director and chief executive officer, members of the bank’s purchase committee, and Iqbal Al Mahmud, managing director of advertising firm Mindtree Ltd.

According to the case statements, HBM Iqbal, his family members, concerned bank officials, and the advertising firm allegedly colluded in 2020 to misappropriate funds by issuing work orders for advertisements that were not fully aired.

The ACC investigation found that the bank issued five work orders worth Tk9.25 crore to Mindtree Ltd for broadcasting advertisements on various television channels that year.

Under the agreements, each channel was supposed to air 100 minutes of advertisements, but only 50 minutes were actually broadcast.

Although contracts were signed for a total of 2,400 minutes of advertisements, only 1,200 minutes were aired. Based on the actual broadcast, Mindtree Ltd was entitled to receive only Tk1.08 crore.

The ACC alleged that the accused misappropriated the remaining Tk8.17 crore through collusion.
The investigation further revealed that between 4 August 2011 and 25 March 2025, a total of Tk438.71 crore was deposited in advance in the name of Mindtree Ltd for advertisement promotion under instructions from HBM Iqbal.

Of this amount, Tk342.29 crore was later adjusted by showing work orders, while Tk96.41 crore remains unadjusted.