The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday served notices to the chairman of the Hall-Mark Group and two officials of Sonali Bank’s Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch, asking them to submit their wealth statements.

Hall-Mark Chairman Jesmine Islam, former deputy general manager of the Sonali Bank's branch AKM Azizur Rahman and Assistant General Manager Saiful Hasan were asked to submit their wealth reports within seven working days since the serving of the notice.

Meanwhile, at a monthly press briefing ACC Secretary Foyzur Rahman Chowdhury said the commission would sue Sonali Bank if it did not file any case against the Hall-Mark Group and five other companies for recovering the money they had swindled out of the state-run bank.

A Bangladesh Bank investigation found that the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch of Sonali Bank disbursed more than Tk 3,500 crore from 2010 until May this year to these companies against fake documents. Of the sum,

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Hall-Mark alone took Tk 2,686 crore.

ACC would not go for legal action to realise money, said Foyzur. It was the bank that had to lodge a case in this regard, he added.

Sonali Bank could file the case with the civil court or Artha Rin Adalat (the court that handles cases filed against loan defaulters for realising money), Foyzur said.

The anti-graft body has so far filed 11 cases against 27 officials of Hall-Mark and Sonali Bank on charges of criminal offence.

"It never files cases for recovering money," the ACC official said.

Asked why the commission was not confiscating properties of the Hall-Mark officials, he said it was beyond ACC’s jurisdiction, adding only courts could give such orders.

Notices will be served by the ACC on another 13 people, including 10 Sonali Bank board of directors, asking them to submit their wealth statements.

On the ACC's recent activities, its secretary told reporters that the commission accepted 92 from 1,017 complaints for investigation in September. It also gave permission for filing 68 cases against 97 people, including 52 government staff, one public representative and 17 businessmen.