A Dhaka court on Monday ordered the start of trial by framing charges against S Alam Group Chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam, former Reliance Finance Managing Director Prashanta Kumar (PK) Halder, and 11 others in a case filed over the embezzlement of about Tk32 crore taken as loans.

Judge Md Abdus Salam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-9 passed the order and set 8 February for witness testimony.

The other accused are Vice Chairman of S Alam Group Abdus Samad; directors Mohammad Abdullah Hasan and Sahana Ferdous; former Executive Vice President of Reliance Finance Rashedul Haque; former manager Nahida Runai; former Senior Vice President Kazi Ahmed Jamal; former Deputy Manager Zumaratul Banna; former Managing Director of Merin Vegetable Oils Zahir Ahmed; directors Tipu Sulhan, Md Ishaq, and Md Abdullah Al Mamun.

Among the accused, Nahida Runai and Rashedul Haque are currently in jail, while the others are absconding.

Earlier, on 11 January, Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Sabbir Faiz accepted the charge sheet and transferred the case to Dhaka Special Judge Court-9 for trial.

According to the case documents, the accused allegedly approved a loan of Tk32.50 crore in the name of a shell company, M/s Mostafa & Co, on 12 August, 2013, and disbursed the amount on 9 October the same year. The money was later transferred to S Alam Super Edible Oil Limited.

ACC Assistant Director Mahmudul Hasan filed the case on 2 July last year in connection with the incident, naming 13 individuals as accused. Following the investigation, he submitted the charge sheet against all 13 accused to the court on 16 October.