A special court in Pabna today handed down a fugitive banker 15 years of imprisonment in a corruption case filed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and imposed a fine of over Tk 66.39 lakh. 

Hasanuzzaman Palash, the convict, misappropriated Tk 173.56 lakh through forgery and fraudulence while working as a junior officer of Prime Bank’s Pabna Branch between May 19, 2010 and January 2, 2012, reports our correspondent.

According to the case statement, Palash was assigned to produce voucher and post it in Prime Bank’s online system at the clearing house of its Pabna Branch.

Palash forged cheques of the bank’s clients and submitted those to his account. Through this, he accumulated a total of Tk 173.56 lakh.

The court handed Hasanuzzaman seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed Tk 5,000 fine for breaching trust, three years’ imprisonment and Tk 3000 fine for distortion of documents and five years’ imprisonment and Tk 66.39 lakh for misusing power.

Palash, however, will have to serve the jail term concurrently.

Meanwhile, an ACC source said Hasanuzzaman was absconding.

He was released on bail after he was caught. He appeared before the court one or two times during the trial proceeding of the case filed with Pabna Police Station on June 18, 2012.

“He later went into hiding,” the ACC official said seeking anonymity.