By Mark Ford

Fake letters of credit (L/C) are now featuring in a long running investigation into corruption amongst officials at Sonali Bank in Bangladesh.

Officials say that they have already prosecuted 27 people for obtaining loans from the bank by presenting other fake documents.

Fake L/Cs

As part of the investigations, it recently emerged that a business known as the Hall-Mark Group and five other organisations allegedly swindled around US$440 million from several branches of Sonali Bank between June 2010 and March 2012.

Hall-Mark alone allegedly took the equivalent of around US$183 million from the bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch and US$134 million from several other banks by presenting fake L/C documents.

Charges

Of the 27 people who have so far been charged in connection with this matter, 20 are former and current officials of the largest state-owned commercial bank.

Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission has hinted that more officials of Sonali Bank may be connected with the loan scam.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.