JS body questions SB branch officials
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Shafiqul Islam Jibon
The management personnel of the state-owned commercial bank, Sonali Bank Limited (SBL), has denied their alleged involvement with the Hallmark Group in sanctioning fraudulent loans worth Tk 26 billion as they appeared before a sub-committee of the standing committee of Jatiya Sangsad (JS) or parliament on the ministry of finance (MoF), Tuesday.
The scam occurred at the SBL's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel Branch in the city recently.
Senior officials of the SB, including Managing Director Pradip Kumar Dutta, all of its Deputy Managing Directors and the General Managers have given statements to the sub-committee on the day as part of its on-going investigation into the country's the largest financial crime involving a bank.
Two committee members, out of a total of four, of the sub-committee, Md Tazul Islam MP as its chairman and another member Golam Dastagir Gazi MP visited the bank's headquarters on the day.
It was the first physical move by the members of the JS after formation of the committee on September 06 last to investigate the Hallmark loan scam and prepare reports and recommendations for the standing committee of the JS on the MoF.
The two members of the sub-committee also visited the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch on the same day and they questioned the branch officials concerned about the alleged loans. Top management personnel of the SB were present at that time.
When asked about the process of sanctioning the loans for the Hallmark Group, the SB management claimed that they could not detect the forgery in the proposed loans in advance because of the wrong reporting system concerning the branch officials, sources said.
"The bank management claimed that they had problem with proper supervision and with the system of reporting from the branch as they failed to identify the forgery, the Member of the Parliament (MP) and convenor of the parliamentary sub-committee Md Tazul Islam told the FE Tuesday.
"However, we have almost finalised our investigation and are going to submit our report to the standing committee of parliament soon," Md Tazul Islam MP said.
"Our investigation is almost complete, and we have made satisfactory progress in our findings, and hopefully, we will be able to submit the final report including our recommendations to the parliamentary standing committee soon," he stated.
The parliamentary sub-committee is satisfied with the top management of the SBL as they are helping with necessary information about the process of sanctioning loans to Hallmark Group, Mr. Islam MP also noted.
The members of parliament also took away copies of the bank's organisational structure (organogram) and asked about the individual responsibilities of the management officials during the questioning session.
After the meeting with the SBL officials, Tazul Islam told reporters that the parliamentary investigation was still under process.
"It has been possible to make progress about the investigation as we have collected a lot of important details about the loans. We have also taken recorded statements from the bank officials concerned who were involved with the sanctioning of loans to the Hallmark Group," he noted.
The sub-committee is planning to ask the so-called MD of the Hallmark Group, Tanvir Mahmud, to appear before the parliamentary standing committee to question him about the loans.
However, in a reply to a question, Tazul Islam MP said, "We did not receive any information regarding the involvement of an Adviser to the Prime Minister in the process of the alleged loans until now. We are not thinking about ask him to before the JS standing committee to ask questions about the allegation."
"We will be continuing our work as we deem it necessary as per the 'terms and conditions' of the sub-committee of the standing committee of JS on the MoF," he said, adding, "But we could not identify the involvement of the Adviser as nobody clarified his personal interest in the alleged loans."
He said: "The investigations by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the sub-committee of the parliamentary standing committee are not the same. Even we are not criminal investigators. We will also investigate the financial activities of the other state-owned commercial banks."
The sub-committee would come up with observations on the Bangladesh Bank (BB) whether it had taken the right step or not. But it has done a good job as it has been able to identify the largest financial crime in the country, Tazul Islam MP said.
The sub-committee would also recommend if any actions were further needed by the BB. It might recommend amendments to the banking laws, if necessary, he added.
In reply to a question, the SBL's MD Pradip Kumar Dutta said, "We have taken up the procedures to recover our money from the Hallmark Group. But we will not disclose the modalities at this stage."
"We have notified the ACC for taking legal actions as per the guidelines of the bank's legal advisers," he said.
The management personnel of the state-owned commercial bank, Sonali Bank Limited (SBL), has denied their alleged involvement with the Hallmark Group in sanctioning fraudulent loans worth Tk 26 billion as they appeared before a sub-committee of the standing committee of Jatiya Sangsad (JS) or parliament on the ministry of finance (MoF), Tuesday.
The scam occurred at the SBL's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel Branch in the city recently.
Senior officials of the SB, including Managing Director Pradip Kumar Dutta, all of its Deputy Managing Directors and the General Managers have given statements to the sub-committee on the day as part of its on-going investigation into the country's the largest financial crime involving a bank.
Two committee members, out of a total of four, of the sub-committee, Md Tazul Islam MP as its chairman and another member Golam Dastagir Gazi MP visited the bank's headquarters on the day.
It was the first physical move by the members of the JS after formation of the committee on September 06 last to investigate the Hallmark loan scam and prepare reports and recommendations for the standing committee of the JS on the MoF.
The two members of the sub-committee also visited the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch on the same day and they questioned the branch officials concerned about the alleged loans. Top management personnel of the SB were present at that time.
When asked about the process of sanctioning the loans for the Hallmark Group, the SB management claimed that they could not detect the forgery in the proposed loans in advance because of the wrong reporting system concerning the branch officials, sources said.
"The bank management claimed that they had problem with proper supervision and with the system of reporting from the branch as they failed to identify the forgery, the Member of the Parliament (MP) and convenor of the parliamentary sub-committee Md Tazul Islam told the FE Tuesday.
"However, we have almost finalised our investigation and are going to submit our report to the standing committee of parliament soon," Md Tazul Islam MP said.
"Our investigation is almost complete, and we have made satisfactory progress in our findings, and hopefully, we will be able to submit the final report including our recommendations to the parliamentary standing committee soon," he stated.
The parliamentary sub-committee is satisfied with the top management of the SBL as they are helping with necessary information about the process of sanctioning loans to Hallmark Group, Mr. Islam MP also noted.
The members of parliament also took away copies of the bank's organisational structure (organogram) and asked about the individual responsibilities of the management officials during the questioning session.
After the meeting with the SBL officials, Tazul Islam told reporters that the parliamentary investigation was still under process.
"It has been possible to make progress about the investigation as we have collected a lot of important details about the loans. We have also taken recorded statements from the bank officials concerned who were involved with the sanctioning of loans to the Hallmark Group," he noted.
The sub-committee is planning to ask the so-called MD of the Hallmark Group, Tanvir Mahmud, to appear before the parliamentary standing committee to question him about the loans.
However, in a reply to a question, Tazul Islam MP said, "We did not receive any information regarding the involvement of an Adviser to the Prime Minister in the process of the alleged loans until now. We are not thinking about ask him to before the JS standing committee to ask questions about the allegation."
"We will be continuing our work as we deem it necessary as per the 'terms and conditions' of the sub-committee of the standing committee of JS on the MoF," he said, adding, "But we could not identify the involvement of the Adviser as nobody clarified his personal interest in the alleged loans."
He said: "The investigations by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the sub-committee of the parliamentary standing committee are not the same. Even we are not criminal investigators. We will also investigate the financial activities of the other state-owned commercial banks."
The sub-committee would come up with observations on the Bangladesh Bank (BB) whether it had taken the right step or not. But it has done a good job as it has been able to identify the largest financial crime in the country, Tazul Islam MP said.
The sub-committee would also recommend if any actions were further needed by the BB. It might recommend amendments to the banking laws, if necessary, he added.
In reply to a question, the SBL's MD Pradip Kumar Dutta said, "We have taken up the procedures to recover our money from the Hallmark Group. But we will not disclose the modalities at this stage."
"We have notified the ACC for taking legal actions as per the guidelines of the bank's legal advisers," he said.