A Dhaka court has sent Hallmark Group Chairman Jasmine Islam to jail in a case involving the alleged embezzlement of the equivalent of millions of US dollars through a fake letter of credit (L/C).

Her imprisonment comes a month after the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in Bangladesh scrapped an order that granted bail to the Hallmark chairman.

Judiciary too soft

The High Court initially granted bail to the businesswoman in March in the case involving the alleged embezzlement of the equivalent of around US$10.2 million from Janata Bank after opening a fake L/C.

The High Court order had granted permanent bail to Islam, but critics said that decision indicated that the judicial system's treatment of financial crimes was too soft.

Successful challenge

Responding to this criticism, the Bangladesh Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) subsequently filed a petition challenging the bail order.

The Supreme Court bench decided to support the ACC's petition and asked Islam to surrender to the court within four weeks. The businesswoman complied with that request and was jailed by the court.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.