New Sonali Life manager not up for validating financial results

Sonali Life Insurance Company has failed to disclose financial results of 2023 within the stipulated three months after the year ended for the suspension of the board on allegations of fund embezzlement.
The administrator, Brig General S M Ferdous appointed by the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) to manage the operations of the insurer refused to authenticate the annual financial accounts of the company.
In a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, the newly-appointed administrator referred to the 2015 Dhaka Stock Exchange (Listing) Regulations and the Company Law 1994 to say that he is not the authorised person to validate financial documents.
"We have sought direction from the regulatory authority (IDRA) [regarding the next step]," Mr Ferdous told The FE.
The insurance regulator in March suspended the board of directors of Sonali Life Insurance for six months, after it found evidence of financial frauds committed by the company's sponsor-directors.
"In the absence of the board, it is not possible to authenticate the accounts and adopt financial statements," said the administrator in the filing.
Sonali Life's year ended in December. The securities rules obligate listed companies to adopt financial statements within three months after the end of a year.
Earlier in January this year, the IDRA appointed chartered accountant firm Hoda Vasi Chowdhury and Co to conduct a special audit of the accounts of the life insurance company following allegations of fund embezzlement against its owners.
The insurance regulator found that four directors of the company had not made any payment for the purchase of shares worth Tk 9.16 crore. They also faked payments of Tk 10.50 crore against the share purchase.
Between July and December 2023, former chairman of Sonali Life Mostafa Golam Quddus illegally received funds totaling Tk 18 crore from the firm without the board's approval, according to the auditor.
Mr Quddus also took out a bank loan of Tk 195.43 crore against the company's FDR by submitting fake board meeting minutes. He also embezzled Tk 8.26 crore more from the company.
According to IDRA, Quddus had informed the board that the amount paid to his firms -- Dragon Sweater, Dragon IT, and Imperial Convention Center -- was duly justified, but his claims were not corroborated.
Meanwhile, the stock of the company climbed 5.35 per cent to Tk 80.80 per share on the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Wednesday from the day before.
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