Group Profile

No. Students Name

Students ID.

01.

Md. Faysal

02.

Afrida Masud

03.

Ananta Prasad Paul

04.

Mushfiqur Rahman

05.

Arkapriya Biswas

20-006
20-032
20-036
20-060
20-082

Letter of Transmittal
December 20, 2016
Mohammad Salahuddin Chowdhury
Assistant Professor
Department of Finance
University of Dhaka
Subject: Submission of Term Paper on The Sonali Bank Limited and Hallmark Scandal
Dear Sir:
Here is the report on the study of The Sonali Bank Limited and Hallmark Scandal as per our requirement for
course F-310.
Writing this report has been a challenging yet interesting experience for us. It enabled us to grasp a thorough
knowledge on the subject matter and we are confident that this knowledge will prove to be of utmost value and
importance to us in future.
We have undertaken our sincerest effort for successful completion of this report and we hope that any
unintentional error, omission or mistake committed by us while preparing this report will be considered with
sympathy.
We, therefore, hope that you would be happy to know that we have tried our best to make this report more & more
informative and factual.
Sincerely,
Group members:
No.

Students Name

Students ID.

01.
02.

Md. Faysal
Afrida Masud

20-006
20-032

03.

Ananta Prasad Paul

20-036

04.

Mushfiqur Rahman

20-060

05.

Arkapriya Biswas

20-082

Signatures

3rd year 2nd Semester (20th batch)

Section- B
Department of Finance
University of Dhaka

Acknowledgement and Declaration

For the completion of the study we dont deserve all praise. For any BBA student course report is an
essential part for his/her educational life. One can gather a lot of practical knowledge and experience by
observing and doing the work on a specified topic. In this regard, our report has been prepared on The
Sonali Bank Limited and Hallmark Scandal.
At first, we would like to express our gratitude from heart to the Almighty for giving us the strength and
patience to prepare this report with perfection within the scheduled time.
Then, we would like to thank our F-310; Auditing course teacher Mohammad Salahuddin Chowdhury,
Department of Finance, University of Dhaka. His constant presence and words of encouragement
inspired us to do our very best. It probably would be impossible to complete this report without his
guidance and availability.
Finally, we are grateful to all of our group members. Without their earnest effort, it was impossible for
us to complete the report.
This report is prepared for meeting our academic purpose, not for any other reason. It might not be used
for the benefit of any other purposes

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................5
Part 1: Introduction......................................................................................................................................6
Part 2 : Theoretical aspect............................................................................................................................9
Definition of audit:.................................................................................................................................10
Types of Auditors...................................................................................................................................10
Functions of audit...................................................................................................................................11
Audit objectives......................................................................................................................................13
Tests of controls......................................................................................................................................14
Part 3: Case background............................................................................................................................15
Banking Regulatory Framework in Bangladesh.....................................................................................16
Fraud mechanism and discovery............................................................................................................16
Part 4 : Involvement of managers and auditors........................................................................................20
Part 5 : After-effect and present status of the case.....................................................................................23
Part 6: Conclusion......................................................................................................................................26
Part 7 : Bibliography..................................................................................................................................27

Executive Summary
The report is basically concentrated to the Hallmark scandal of Sonali Bank Limited. We have
found out the scandal through researching this topic on newspaper, financial magazines and
internet. Firstly, there is a brief review on the academic resources regarding our auditing course
and then we move on directly to the case background. Then the report put light on the fraud
mechanism and discovery regarding Hallmark scandal. It also focuses on the letter of credit issue
as well. This scandal did not take place without the help of members of Sonali bank. The amount
of Hallmark scandal is so big that it is easy to assign the contribution and involvement of
managers and auditors. Then the report finishes screening the after effects and present situation
of the bank regarding the Hallmark scandal case. There are lots of consequences of this scandal
to thin bank and this report shows these in a very serious concern.

Part 1: Introduction
Origin of the report
The report is prepared for the requirement of course F-310; Auditing under the academic
supervision of our course teacher, Mohammad Salahuddin Chowdhury, Department of Finance,
University of Dhaka.
The topic is The Sonali Bank Limited and Hallmark Scandal. While preparing the report;
we gave our best effort in practical implication of our knowledge regarding auditing scandal
affairs in Sonali Bank Limited. The report contains relevant information on the assigned topic
collected from various websites and from financial magazines.
We are able to maximize our potentiality in describing the auditing scandal in Sonali Bank and
also our through knowledge of auditing which is the result of this report preparation.

Objectives of the Report

The main objective of this report is to imply our knowledge of auditing in the social issue
regarding Sonali Bank of Bangladesh. Besides, there are other specific objectives of the
report and these objectives are:
Primary objective:

The primary objective of the report is the completion of our course F-310 and to submit
the term paper to complete our course.

Specific objectives:

To learn the basics of auditing.

To learn the importance of auditing functions.

To learn about Hallmark scandal in details.

To learn the relevant issues regarding this scandal and auditing fault.

To recommend proper steps to be taken regarding this scandal.

Methodology
The methodology of this report is collective. And the report was prepared through a lengthy
process. The process of preparing the report is given bellow:
1. At first, we held a discussion about the process we should follow to prepare the report and
decided to collect secondary data.
2. Then we have divided the topic among our group members.
3. Then we collected secondary data from our recommended course curriculum conducted by our
course teacher Mohammad Salahuddin Chowdhury.
4. We also collected some data from internet to analyze the topic of the report.
5. We learned how to write and evaluate a formal report from our Business English &
Communication course.
6. We summarized collected data, created a case on the topic and analyzed it.
7. We checked formatting of the report and checked for mistakes for several times and at last, we
succeeded to prepare the report.

Limitations
Research work is very much comprehensive. It is an accumulation of both information and
creative thinking. It requires a great effort and long sound planning to make this report. It is true
that we got help from many the responsible participants. But still we faced some usual
restrictions during the course of our preparation for the report. While preparing this report, we
have faced these problems:
8

Lack of Experience: As we are really new in this field of auditing , we felt lack of experience in
every stage of our work.
Difficulty to Analysis: As the topic is totally new to us, it is hard for us to collect relevant data
on the topic and analyze those.
Lack of Time: As we are new in this type of practical scenario analysis, we face the time
constraint.
Though this report has some limitations, we, the group members, tried our best to prepare a
standard report. We have faced several challenges to prepare this report, but we have succeeded
to overcome it.

Scope of the report, Sources of Data & Acronyms

Scope: The present report is an attempt to give our acquired knowledge a practical form. These
are the scopes included in the report:

Giving basic idea of Auditing.

Showing the how Auditing is important to an organizations success

Showing various challenges regarding Auditing

Showing various process to develop Auditing to tackle those challenges

Sources of Data: The information used in the report is collected mostly from given case. And
the nature of data is mostly secondary.

Part 2 : Theoretical aspect

10

Definition of audit:
An audit is an objective examination and evaluation of the financial statements of an
organization to make sure that the records are a fair and accurate representation of the
transactions they claim to represent. It can be done internally by employees of the organization,
or externally by an outside firm.
Most all companies receive an audit once a year, while even larger companies can receive audits
monthly. For some companies, audits are a legal requirement due to the compelling incentives to
intentionally misstate financial information in an attempt to commit fraud. For some publicly
traded companies, auditors are used as a resource to evaluate the effectiveness of internal
controls on financial reports.

Types of Auditors
When it comes to external auditing, there are two different categories of auditors. First, there is
an external or statutory auditor who works independently to evaluate financial reporting, and
then there are external cost auditors who evaluate cost statements and sheets to see if theyre free
of misstatements or fraud. Both of these types of auditors follow a set of standards different from
that of the company or organization hiring them to do the work.
Internal auditors, as the name implies, are employed by the company or organization for whom
they are performing the audit. To the best of their ability, internal auditors provide information to
the board, managers, and other stakeholders on the accuracy of their books and the efficacy of
their internal systems.
Consultant auditors, while not working internally, use the standards of the company they are
auditing as opposed to a separate set of standards. These types of auditors are used when an
organization doesnt have the resources to audit certain parts of their own operations.

11

Functions of audit
Planning
Planning summary schedule is effectively a sign-off sheet to evidence:
Approval of the planning by the engagement partner;
Reading of the audit plan by the engagement team, and
Final review of the planning at the completion stage.
Acceptance procedures
This form is designed to demonstrate that adequate consideration has been given to
independence in accepting appointment/reappointment for the audit. It also demonstrates that the
firm has adequate resources and the appropriate technical knowledge necessary to carry out the
audit properly. The form must be completed and signed by the partner prior to any detailed work
being commenced on the audit. This includes the completion of the detailed planning.
Understanding of the company
BSA 315.20 requires the auditor to obtain an understanding of the company and the environment
in which it operates. This includes:
Industry, regulatory, and other external factors, including the applicable financial reporting
framework;
Nature of the entity, including the entity's selection and application of accounting policies;
Objectives and strategies and the related business risks that may result in a material
misstatement of the financial statements;

12

 Measurement and review of the entity's financial performance;

Risk Summary
BSAs 315 and 330 require the auditor to document:
The identified and assessed risks of material misstatement at the financial statement level and at
the assertion level, and
The overall responses to address the assessed risks of material misstatement at the financial
statement level and the nature, timing, and extent of the further audit procedures, the linkage of
those procedures with the assessed risks at the assertion level, and the results of the audit
procedures.

AUDIT EVIDENCE
This chapter explains the use of the audit programs within this Audit Practice Manual. Particular
reference is made to the summary sheets, on which conclusions on individual audit areas are
required.
3.1 Section D - extensive analytical review states following:
Section D is devoted to extensive analytical review which may be carried out on the accounts as
a whole or in respect of particular aspects of the accounts. Where it is considered that useful
audit evidence can be derived from an extensive analytical review, this approach can be adopted.
It is often very cost effective. For extensive analytical review to be effective it must be targeted
the results must be corroborated with independent data and it must be undertaken by a suitably
senior and experienced individual. Remember that the extent to which the results of analytical
review can be used to reduce the level of substantive testing will depend on the results of the
review work.

13

Audit objectives
BSA 500.2 requires that the auditor should obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to be able
to draw reasonable conclusions on which to base the audit opinion. BSA 500.16 goes on to state
that the auditor should use assertions for classes of transactions, account balances, and
presentation and disclosures in sufficient detail to form a basis for the assessment of risks of
material misstatement and the design and performance of further audit procedures. The auditor
uses assertions in assessing risks by considering the different types of potential misstatements
that may occur, and thereby designing audit procedures that are responsive to the assessed risks.
The assertions referred to above are set out in BSA 500.17, which is reproduced below.
Assertions used by the auditor fall into the following three categories.
1. Assertions about classes of transactions and events for the period under audit such as:
Occurrence - Transactions and events that have been recorded have occurred and pertain to the
entity;
Completeness - All transactions and events that should have been recorded have been recorded;
Accuracy -amounts and other data relating to recorded transactions and events have been
recorded appropriately;
Cut-off-transactions and events have been recorded in the correct accounting period; and
Classification - transactions and events have been recorded in the proper accounts.
2. Assertions about account balances at the period end such as:
Existence- assets, liabilities, and equity interests exist;
Rights and obligations- the entity holds or controls the rights to assets, and liabilities are the
obligations of the entity;
14

 Completeness - all assets, liabilities and equity interests that should have been recorded have
been recorded; and

Tests of controls
Bangladesh Standards on Auditing (BSA) require a much greater consideration of the client's
system of internal control than was the case under the old standards. Under the old regime the
testing of internal controls was entirely optional. This is not the case under BSA.
As part of understanding the entity and its environment it is a requirement to evaluate the
design and implementation of all controls relevant to the audit.
Evaluating the design and implementation of controls requires more than just enquiry; further
work such as inspecting documents or tracing transactions through the system is required.
Testing of the operational effectiveness of internal controls (compliance testing) is mandatory
where: the risk assessment includes an expectation that controls are operating effectively, or
substantive tests alone do not provide sufficient evidence of their operation.

15

Part 3: Case background

16

Banking Regulatory Framework in Bangladesh

An article entitled Regulators of the Financial System (n. d.) has reported that Bangladesh
Bank has served as the Central Bank of Bangladesh since its introduction in 1972 by the virtue of
the enactment of BB Order 1972. Presidents Order No. 127 of 1972 which eventually amended
in 2003. The banking structure of the business of BB has been entrusted to a 9 members Board
of Directors headed by the Governor which is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of
Bangladesh. BB has 40 departments with 9 branches. Incorporated in the strategic plan of BB for
2010 to 2014 is the vision to develop continually as a forward looking central bank with
competent and committed professionals of high ethical standards, conducting monetary
management and financial sector supervision to maintain price stability and financial system
robustness, supporting rapid broad based inclusive economic growth, employment generation
and poverty eradication in Bangladesh. The report further discusses about the BB functions as
formulating and implementing monetary policy, intervening policies in the foreign exchange
market. At the same time, it is giving advice to the Bangladesh government on the interaction of
monetary policy with fiscal and exchange rate policy. This is about the impact of various policy
measures on the economy. Similarly, BB proposes legislative measures in attaining its objectives
and performs its important functions. First, BB is holding and managing the official foreign
reserves of the country. Second, it promotes, regulates and ensures an efficient and secured
payment system that includes the issuance of bank notes. Lastly, BB also regulates and
supervises banking firms and financial establishments. The major objectives of the BB monetary
policies include the price stability of basic commodities, sustainability, growth, & development,
high employment rate in the country.

17

Fraud mechanism and discovery

It is found that the scandal resulted from collusion between officials of Hallmark and Sonali
Bank, in particular between Tanvir Mahmud, Managing Director of Hallmark Group, and Azuzur
Rahman, Manager of Sonali Banks Ruposhi Bangla branch. Hallmark management exploited
the Letter of Credit (LC) system of financing trade.
The Letter of Credit system is an important tool that addresses two problems:
1. First, garment producers are often unable to pay for their inputs, such as the textile fabric
that they need for making garments, until after they have produced and sold their final
products.
2. Second, even when garments producers can pay on time, textile companies might be
anxious about delivering fabric without some guarantee of payment.
The solution to these problems is a Letter of Credit (LC). On behalf of a garments producer, a
bank provides a fabric supplier with a LC that guarantees payment either at the time of delivery
or at some later date. Hallmark is accused of establishing fictitious companies, such as Anwara
Spinning Mills, Max Spinning Mills, Star Spinning Mills, which were shown as recipients of the
LCs. These companies submitted falsified paperwork reporting deliveries of fabric to Hallmark,
which were then paid for by the LCs from Sonali Banks Ruposhi Bangla branch. Because the
fictitious companies and Hallmark had their accounts at the Ruposhi Bangla branch, on paper it
looked like the branchs assets and liabilities were balanced out.

18

 Open LC

Sonali Bank

Ruposhi bangla
branch

Fake Document

Anwara Spinning
Mills, Max
Spinning Mills,
Star Spinning
Mills

Fictious
supplier

Hallmark

Another financial practice, known as Inland Bill Purchases, was then used to spread some of the
bad loans throughout the banking system. Because the still outstanding LCs were guaranteed by
Sonali Bank, the fictitious textile companies were able to sell the LCs to other banks before
maturity at a discounted price. As such, portions of the bad loans were passed on to twentyseven other banks.

Inland Bil
Purchase

Sell Lc at a
discounted
price

Sold LC to
27 banks

Spread bad
loan in the
banking
system
19

Source: Hallmark Group Bangladesh Case

Manik, J. A. (2012) in his August 30 issue in The Daily Star recounts that the Anti-Corruption
Commission (ACC) has informed the adviser to the prime minister of Bangladesh, Syed
Modasser Ali, has allegedly something to do with the controversial illegal Hallmark Groups loan
in Sonali Bank at the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch.
It was allegedly reported that the Prime Minister's adviser has influenced Sonali Banks higher
officials in granting a huge amount of loan to the Hallmark Group with a total amount of
Tk3,547 crore. Ahad,A.(2012). The Hallmark Group alone had availed Tk 2,686.14 crore alone.
While T and Brothers Tk took 609.69 crore, Paragon Group got Tk 146.60 crore, Nakshi Knit
acquired Tk 66.36 crore, DN Sports Tk received 33.25 crore and Khanjahan Ali obtained Tk 4.96
crore.
Bangladesh Bank has found out that the Hallmark Group along with five other companies was
able to apply and eventually has able to get the approval for their loans with forged documents
with the Sonali Bank. Further report says that ACC received information that Modasser Ali has
been trying to stop the Bangladesh Bank together with an audit team to conduct an investigation
on the loan scam. Based on the Bangladesh Banks probe team, there are 32 Sonali Bank officials
who are responsible for the loan scam.

20

Part 4 : Involvement of managers

and auditors

21

The scandal was resulted from the collusion between officials of Hallmark and Sonali Bank.
Hallmark Group Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud, General Manager Tushar Ahmed and
Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch's former Manager AKM Azizur Rahman were
among the main culprits of this fraudulence. Md Mainul Haque, Sonali banks deputy managing
director, made extensive effort to block audits of the Ruposhi Bangla branch. He eventually
transferred the persistent auditors to a branch outside Dhaka. Despite the violations of financial
rules between 2007 and 2011, a probe by the parliamentary committee noted that the Ruposhi
Bangla branch was certified as a low-risk branch by the inspection and audit team.
The officials of the bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch breached the bank rules by giving loans
beyond their permitted limits.
Humayun Kabir, who was the managing director of Sonali Bank from May 20, 2010 to May 19
this year, also failed to detect the scam in his bank. A Dhaka court has asked police to arrest
Sonali Bank Limited's former Managing Director Humyun Kabir in the cases over Hall-Mark
scam.
He was the chief executive of the largest commercial bank in Bangladesh when Hall-Mark
Group borrowed Tk 2500 crore from a branch. The branch manager did not follow the banking
rules while sanctioning and disbursing the loans. He had also taken advantage of the loose
supervision by the principal and general managers offices and the head office. He had adopted
unauthorized ways to disburse the huge amount of money as his clients wished.

The board failed to fail several red flags, including The loans to Hallmark exceeded by a large margin the cap that limits how much Sonali
bank can lend to any single client. According to the bank's rules, a deputy general
manager can buy a maximum of Tk 30 crore as acceptance bill from a group or
organization. But branch Manager AKM Azizur Rahman bought acceptance bill worth
Tk 500 crore that was given to Hallmark Group on a single day.
Hallmark lacked the collateral to justify such large loans
22

 The Ruposhi Bangla Branch exceeded its loan quota almost 500%
The bank had disbursed Tk 3,699 crore as loan, of which Tk 3,606 crore was disbursed
without maintaining banking rules.
The branch officials intentionally refrained from maintaining relevant documents
properly.
The top management, including the managing director and general managers office, also
did not monitor and evaluate the growth in loan disbursement by the Ruposhi Bangla
Hotel branch, the functional audit report said.
Rather than monitoring the branch properly, the top management in different times appraised the
branchs activities. The audit report quoted one of the banks internal reports that read: AKM
Azizur Rahman is managing the branch efficiently with his extraordinary talent, foresight and
banking knowledge.
Such remark had encouraged the branch manager to go for unethical banking. The Hall-Mark
had massively forged papers when taking out loan from the bank. The banks officials are
alleged to have colluded with this fraud.
Despite the arrests of top bosses of the Hall-Mark Group and mid-level officials of the bank in
the scam, Kabir has always been out of touch. He, however, denied his involvement in the scam.
Apart from Kabir, the court has ordered arrest of 16 other suspects, including Deputy Managing
Director Moinul Haq. The Anti-Corruption Commission had pressed charges naming 25 persons
in 11 cases relating to Bangladeshs biggest financial scandal. Among the fugitives are Apparel
Enterprise owner Md Shahidul Islam, Star Spinning owner Abdul Basir, T and Brothers Director
Taslim Hasan, Max Spinning Mills owner Mir Zakaria, Century International owner Md Ziaur
Rahman, Paragon Group Director Saiful Islam Raja and Nakshi Knit MD Abdul Malek.
Bangladesh Bank's investigation team identified the bank scams as a major crime. Bangladesh
Bank found massive corruption at Sonali Bank in 2010. At that time the BB did not take major
steps against Sonali Bank. The BB should demand fair probe into the Sonali Bank scam and
exemplary punishment to those involved in the scandal in the Sonali Bank. The BB knew that
23

something had happened like fraudulence in Sonali Bank, a state-owned bank. It reveals the
weakness in bank management and audit.

24

Part 5 : After-effect and present status of the

case

25

Whats Next:
On May 28, the most awaited verdict of the Hall Mark loan scam was given. Three people
including a bank official have been jailed for life in a case of Hall Mark scandal. Besides, they
have been fined Taka 2 crore. The three convicts are Former AGM and Sonali Bank's
Sheraton Hotel branch manager Saiful Hasan; Paragon Knit Composite Ltd.s director
Abdullah Al Mamun and Paragon's managing director Saiful Islam Raja. However, one of
the accused, former DGM of Sonali Bank Ltd AKM Azizur Rahman died. the Judge
Akhtaruzzaman of Special Judge Court-5 of Dhaka delivered the verdict. The court delivered
the verdict in a case related to embezzling Taka 2,22,78,610 in Hall Mark scandal. This is for the
first time that a court delivered judgment in the widely-criticized loan scam case.
Now, one major concern is the recovery of the lost money, which, to put the amount in
perspective, is equivalent to 17% of the governments education budget. According to the
findings of a parliamentary committee probe, of the Tk 26.86 billion loaned to Hallmark, only
about Tk 4 billion was actually invested and the remaining amount could not be traced. (This is
the case despite early claims by Tanvir Mahmud that he had assets to cover the amount borrowed
twenty times over.)

Consequences:
The consequences of such a massive scandal are very disastrous for the whole banking sector of
the country. The consequences are detailed below Sonali Bank confronted serious financial and leadership challenges for this issue.
It had to cancel a Tk. 800 million loan in Fall due to financial shortfalls, and it has
had to borrow heavily from other banks to stay afloat.
Common people lost their trust from the bank. As such, the general people didnt find
it secure to keep their money in the banks.
Maximum people of our country tempted to withdraw their deposits in fear of a
collapse of the banking sector like the share market collapse.
26

 The investment and production of the country declined as people started withdrawing
money that led to liquidity crisis.

Recommendations:
The consequences of such a massive scandal are very disastrous for the whole banking sector of
the country. Sonali Bank confronted serious financial and leadership challenges for this issue. It
had to cancel a Tk. 800 million loan in Fall due to financial shortfalls, and it has had to borrow
heavily from other banks to stay afloat. The incident has led to renewed calls for:
Steps to remove political influence from the banking sector.
Changes to the way that board members and bank leadership are appointed.
Upgraded automation and management information systems.
Improved internal control mechanisms and the development of a comprehensive risk
management strategy within all banks.
And the creation of a fully independent Bangladesh Bank with full regulatory authority over all
of the nations banks.

27

Part 6: Conclusion
Sonali bank is a renowned name in the banking industry for a long time. It has witnessed so
much succession project during the past years. But it also confronts scandal regarding Hallmark
in recent years which is very crucial for the banking industry. The scandal resulted from
collusion between officials of Hallmark and Sonali Bank, in particular between Tanvir Mahmud,
Managing Director of Hallmark Group, and Azuzur Rahman, Manager of Sonali Banks Ruposhi
Bangla branch. Hallmark management exploited the Letter of Credit (LC) system of financing
trade. Hallmark is accused of establishing fictitious companies, such as Anwara Spinning Mills,
Max Spinning Mills, Star Spinning Mills, which were shown as recipients of the LCs. These
companies submitted falsified paperwork reporting deliveries of fabric to Hallmark, which were
then paid for by the LCs from Sonali Banks Ruposhi Bangla branch. Because the fictitious
companies and Hallmark had their accounts at the Ruposhi Bangla branch, on paper it looked
like the branchs assets and liabilities were balanced out. Inland Bill Purchases was then used to
spread some of the bad loans throughout the banking system. Because the still outstanding LCs
were guaranteed by Sonali Bank, the fictitious textile companies were able to sell the LCs to
other banks before maturity at a discounted price. As such, portions of the bad loans were passed
on to twenty-seven other banks. The Hall-Mark had massively forged papers when taking out
loan from the bank. The banks officials are alleged to have colluded with this fraud. Bangladesh
Bank's investigation team identified the bank scams as a major crime. Bangladesh Bank found
massive corruption at Sonali Bank in 2010. At that time the BB did not take major steps against
Sonali Bank. The BB should demand fair probe into the Sonali Bank scam and exemplary
punishment to those involved in the scandal in the Sonali Bank. The BB knew that something
had happened like fraudulence in Sonali Bank, a state-owned bank. It reveals the weakness in
bank management and audit. The consequences of such a massive scandal are very disastrous for
the whole banking sector of the country. Sonali Bank confronted serious financial and leadership
challenges for this issue. It had to cancel a Tk. 800 million loan in Fall due to financial shortfalls,
and it has had to borrow heavily from other banks to stay afloat. We may conclude the report by
providing recommendations in respect of this situation.

28

Part 7 : Bibliography

bdnews24.com. (2016). Ex-Sonali Bank MD faces arrest over Hall-Mark scam. [online]
Available

at:

http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/11/13/ex-sonali-bank-md-faces-

arrest-over-hall-mark-scam [Accessed 17 Dec. 2016].

Dhakatimes.com.bd. (2016). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online] Available at:
http://dhakatimes.com.bd/2012/10/23/4204/hallmark-scandal-tanvir-mahmood-promisedto-refund-all-money-to-acc/ [Accessed 17 Dec. 2016].

Farashuddin, M. (2016). Hall-Mark fraud: Lessons for the banking system. [online] The
Daily Star. Available at: http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-248925 [Accessed 17
Dec. 2016].

Print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com. (2016). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online]

Available

at:

http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/old/index.php?

ref=MjBfMTBfMTNfMTJfMF8yMl8xNDY3MTY=&feature=c3BlY2lhbHNOZXdz&na
=U0FUVVJEQVkgRkVBVFVSRQ== [Accessed 17 Dec. 2016].

The Daily Star. (2016). Hallmark loan scam under ACC probe. [online] Available at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-246119 [Accessed 17 Dec. 2016].

Bssnews.net.

(2016). News

Details.

[online]

Available

at:

http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=0&id=577448$date=2016-05

24&dateCurrent=2016-06-01 [Accessed 20 Dec. 2016].

Daily-sun.com. (2016). Ex-Sonali Bank official among 3 sentenced life imprisonment |
Daily sun. [online] Available at: http://www.daily-sun.com/home/printnews/138664

[Accessed 18 Dec. 2016].

Hallmark scam: Sonali Bank AGM, 2. (2016). Hallmark scam: Sonali Bank AGM, 2
others

jailed

for

life.

[online]

Click

Ittefaq.

Available

at:

http://www.clickittefaq.com/hallmark-scam-sonali-bank-agm-2-others-jailed-life/
[Accessed 18 Dec. 2016].
29

News Bangladesh. (2016). Hall Mark scam: Three jailed for life, Tk 2cr fined - National.
[online] Available at: http://www.newsbangladesh.com/english/details/14632 [Accessed
18 Dec. 2016].

30