Prashant Kumar Halder (PK Halder) is a Bangladeshi-Kandian banker. He is a Bangladeshi businessman who had control over several financial firms, and abused his power by embezzling more than 100 billion taka with the help of his associates and relatives. After hiding in India for two years, he was finally arrested on 14 May 2022.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
PK Halder was born in Matibhanga Union of Nazirpur, Bangladesh in the mid-90s. In his childhood, his fans used to call him Moru. He studied at Dighirjan Government Primary School for his early education. After this he went to Dighirjan High School for SCC. He always stood at the top of his class. Subsequently, he joined Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology for his graduate studies. He then went to the Institute of Business Administration of Dhaka University to pursue an MBA degree.
Physical Appearance
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
He is the son of Pralab Chandra Halder and Leelabati Halder. His father was a tailor, and his mother was a school teacher in Matibhanga union of Nazirpur. He has two brothers named Pijush Halder and Pranesh Halder, both of whom are businessmen who now live in India.
relationships/affairs
PK Halder had two girlfriends in Bangladesh named Avantika Baral and Nahida Runai. PK Halder’s associate Ujjwal Kumar gave a statement to a Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate named Atiqul Islam and mentioned PK Halder’s two girlfriends. He said,
PK Halder’s two girlfriends, Avantika Baral and Nahida Runai. He has traveled with both of them to Singapore and Thailand 20 to 25 times separately. There was tremendous competition between the two to get the support of PK Halder.”
Apart from traveling abroad with his two girlfriends, he used to spend time with each of them separately in various clubs in Dhaka.
PK Halder’s girlfriend Nahida Runai
Ujjwal Kumar Nandi also said that he and all the other associates of PK Halder used to call Avantika as Little Apa and Runai as Big Apa. After interrogating Ujjwal, the ACC investigation team said,
PK Halder’s relationship with Runai and Avantika was like husband and wife. And the relationship between Runai and Avantika was like satin. There was tough competition between the two even for foreign travel. Once, PK secretly accompanied Avantika on a recreational trip to Singapore. When Runai came to know about the matter, many people said that PK had faced physical abuse. Apart from this, Runai attacked PK several times because of his closeness to Avantika.
Abantika Baral arrested by Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2021
money laundering case
After completing his formal education, Halder started holding executive roles in various organizations in the early years of his career. In 2008, PK Halder became the Deputy Managing Director of Industrial and Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited. A year later, he was appointed as the Managing Director of Reliance Finance Limited. On July 3, 2014, he founded his own company, P&L Hale Holding, in Canada. In July 2015, he became the managing director of NRB Global Bank, which was later renamed Global Islamic Bank. He was also the owner of HAL International, and one of the directors of this company, Swapan Kumar Mistry, also served as a director of International Leasing and Financial Services Limited. Swapan Kumar Mistry’s wife was the chairperson of Mutual Trust Bank. MTB) Ltd. Another person associated with him was Uttam Kumar Mistry who was the brother of Swapan Kumar Mistry. Uttam Mistry’s wife Atoshi Mridha had taken a loan of about 800 million taka from International Leasing and Financial Services Limited for a fake company named Kolasin. Halder’s cousin, Amitav Adhikari, was the director of People’s Leasing and Financial Services Limited from 2015 to 2019. At that time, Ujjal Kumar Nandi, a former associate of Halder, served as the chairman of People’s Leasing and Financial Services Limited. Two people assisted Halder in embezzling lakhs of taka from People’s Leasing and Financial Services Limited. Following this embezzlement, Halder became the chairman of People’s Leasing and Financial Services Limited. Fraud was suspected in 2019, and an investigation against Halder began after several raids on illegal casinos by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFI) in Dhaka. In 2020, Bangladesh Bank revealed that Halder had embezzled a total of Taka 15 billion from International Leasing and Financial Services Limited. After this, FAS Finance and Investment Limited was defrauded to the tune of Rs 22 billion. The third fraud was with People’s Leasing and Financial Services Limited from where he stole Rs 30 billion. The second company was Reliance Finance Limited from where he stole 25 billion taka. Following these findings, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFI) and the Anti-Corruption Commission investigated Halder. In March 2020, he fled Bangladesh and arrived in India an hour before the travel ban was implemented against him. Being a Canadian citizen, he moved to Canada from India. In December 2020, the Anti Corruption Commission of Bangladesh had confiscated all the assets of PK Halder. Halder also owned Northern Jute Manufacturing Company Limited, Rahman Chemicals, Aziz Fiber Jute Control and Simtex Industries and his cousin Amitabh Adhikari left his job in the Bangladesh Civil Service and joined his business. In January 2021, Bangladesh had banned NI Khan, associated with him, from leaving the country.
Three associates of PK Halder arrested in 2021
However, this order was later overturned by an appeal. In the same year, 14 people associated with Halder were summoned by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh to its office to investigate Halder’s money laundering case. On 5 April 2021, Abdul Aleem, owner of Clewiston Foods and Accommodation, sued Halder in a loan case for setting up a Radisson Blu hotel in Cox’s Bazar. According to Aleem, Halder had demanded a majority stake in his company to clear this business loan in 2014. Another close associate of Halder was Pritish Kumar Sarkar who was the managing director of FAS Finance and Investment Limited; He was barred from leaving Bangladesh by the Bank of Bangladesh. The court ordered Halder to return to Bangladesh, but he also disobeyed this legal order. In November 2021, Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission filed charges against Halder and people associated with him, including Pritish Kumar Halder.
Arrested
PK Halder was living secretly in India, hiding from everyone. In May 2022, PK Halder was arrested by Indian authorities from Ashoknagar, North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, India. He was living in India under a false identity in the name of Shibshankar Haldar.
PK Halder arrested in India in May 2022
Facts/General Knowledge
- In his childhood, he was once physically attacked over the issue of his school finances.
- When arrested, he had passports of several countries including India, Bangladesh and Grenada.
- According to the Enforcement Directorate report, a Red Corner Notice was issued against PK Halder by the international criminal police organization called Interpol.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn