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Hallmark Scam

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Submitted By Jupiterchakma
Words 6705
Pages 27
Objective:
The most recent financial sector crisis of Bangladesh is the “Hallmark-Sonali Bank Loan Scandal “. This crisis identified in the year 2012 and it has been took place from the year 2010 and finally disclosed in 2012. To learn lesson from this incident and prevent further recurrence, study in depth of this crisis is very important.
Background:
A central bank probe found that Sonali Bank high-ups, including a deputy managing director, a general manager and the branch manager, were directly involved in the scam. The amount embezzled by the six entities is equivalent to almost 15 percent of the total estimated cost of the $2.9 billion Padma bridge project. Of Tk. 3,547 crore, Hallmark Group alone took away Tk. 2,686.14 crore, T and Brothers Tk. 609.69 crore, Paragon Group Tk. 146.60 crore, Nakshi Knit Tk. 66.36 crore, DN Sports Tk. 33.25 crore and Khanjahan Ali Tk. 4.96 crore. Of the six borrowers, Hallmark has been found to be the biggest fraudster. Analysis and Research:
Bangladesh experienced the biggest financial scam in the year 2012 which is commonly known as the “Hallmark-Sonali Bank Loan Scandal “. To understand, analyze and research this scam in depth, let’s look for the answer of the following questions:
. What happened?
. How did it happen?
. Why wasn’t the malpractice prevented or discovered sooner?
. What has been the fall out?
. Is it Hallmark’s success or failure of Sonali bank?

The first question is: What happened?
In May 2012, a report from the Bangladesh Bank revealed that, the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel Branch of the state-owned Sonali Bank, Bangladesh’s largest commercial bank, illegally distributed Tk. 35.47 billion (US$460 million) in loans between 2010 and 2012. The largest share, of Tk. 26.86 billion (US$340 million), went to the now infamous Hallmark Group. While the focus has understandably been on Hallmark, other

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