Former PM adviser Salman F Rahman comes under probe while S Alam Group cohorts are sued for pecuniary offences involving an aggregate amount of Tk 29.99-billion bank money.
Also, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to probe allegations of irregularities in the purchase of 137 buses involving former Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader and ex-Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri.
The anti-graft agency took the decision based on a report published in a leading Bengali daily on August 29, 2024, reporters were told Thursday, as bigwigs are coming under the ACC scanner with the change of fortune through the August uprising.
The ACC decided to initiate an inquiry against Salman F Rahman, also former chairman, and Shah Alam Sarwar, former Managing Director, of IFIC Bank PLC in connection with loan scams.
"The decision follows allegations of abuse of power, irregularities, and corruption in approving and disbursing loans worth Tk 19.07 billion," the ACC authorities said at a press briefing.
According to the allegations, the loans were approved and disbursed without proper competition and involved forgery. The funds were sanctioned through IFIC Bank's Gulshan and other branches for five organisations.
The borrowers are Blue Moon Trading Limited, Axis Business Limited, Everest Enterprise, Glowing Construction and Engineering Limited, Vista International Limited, and Skymark International Limited.
The loans were allegedly "misused and misappropriated instead of being utilized for their intended purposes".
The allegations were initially outlined in an inspection report by the Department of Off-site Supervision of Bangladesh Bank. The report was formally forwarded to the ACC for further review and action.
Meanwhile, the anti-graft watchdog filed Thursday a case against 58 individuals, including Ahsanul Alam, son of controversial S Alam Group-owner Mohammed Saiful Alam and former chairman of Islami Bank Bangladesh, and other suspects for allegedly embezzling Tk 10.92 billion through loan frauds.
The case was filed by ACC Deputy Director Yasir Arafat at the commission's Integrated District Office-1 in Chattogram.
According to the case statement, the accused colluded to embezzle Islami Bank's funds by obtaining loans in the name of Murad Enterprise by "fraudulent means".
Apart from Ahsanul Alam, the accused include the bank's former director and EC Committee chairman, Dr Md Salim Uddin, former vice-chairman Dr Tanvir Ahmed, former directors Dr Md Fasiul Alam, Kazi Shahidul Alam, Dr Md Sirajul Karim, Jamal Mostafa Chowdhury, Md Zainal Abedin, Khurshid Ul Alam, and Md Kamrul Hasan, former nominee director Syed Abu Asad and former independent directors Dr Mohammad Saleh Jahur and Mohammad Soleiman.
The other accused include the bank's current Managing Director, Mohammed Monirul Moula, former additional managing directors Muhammad Kaysar Ali and KQM Habibullah, and other current and former senior officials, such as deputy managing directors, senior executive vice presidents, branch managers, investment heads, and zonal chiefs.
The owners of businesses that allegedly benefitted from the loan frauds were also named in the case. They include Mohammad Golam Sarwar Chowdhury of Murad Enterprise, Mohammad Ershad Hossain Chowdhury of Chowdhury & Hossain Trade Link, Morshedul Alam of Bismillah Trading Corporation, Mohammad Golam Kibria Chowdhury of United Super Traders, and directors of Chemon Ispat Ltd, Sentry Food Products Ltd, Rainbow Corporation, and several other entities.
In November 2021, Golam Sarwar of Murad Enterprise applied for a loan at the bank's Chaktai branch in Chattogram. The loan, initially proposed at Tk 8.9 billion, was later increased to Tk 11 billion.
The ACC alleges the bank's officials approved the loan without proper verification, relying on "false documents" submitted by Murad Enterprise.
The inquiry revealed instead of using the loan for the proposed investment, debts of various businesses owned by S Alam Group were repaid, constituting a violation of the Money Laundering Prevention Act.
The ACC has been probing allegations of money laundering against the S Alam Group owner since August 2023. Islami Bank has faced multiple loan-forgery scandals since the conglomerate took control of it in 2017.
In December 2023, reports surfaced that Tk 32.57 billion was disbursed through irregular loans to three businesses via Islami Bank's branches in Chattogram.
Following the political changeover as a result of the 2024 July-August uprising, the inquiry into the bank's loan irregularities gained momentum. In November and this month, over 50 officials of the bank were interrogated by the ACC.
The ACC has assigned its Deputy Director Yasir Arafat to lead the inquiry team and submit a detailed report.
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