Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansoor said that the businessmen close to the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who lost power removed 17 billion or 1 thousand 7 billion dollars from the banking sector during her regime.
He also said that the founder and chairman of S Alam Group, Mohammad Saiful Alam (S Alam) and his associates took at least 10 billion or 1 thousand billion dollars.
Ahsan Mansoor, in an interview given to the influential British media outlet Financial Times, alleged that some former officials of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DGFI) helped take over top banks.
He said that approximately 2 lakh crore taka ($1,670 crore) has been smuggled out of Bangladesh by capturing these banks. In this case methods such as giving loans to new shareholders and showing additional cost of imports have been used.
In the interview published on Monday, the Bangladesh Bank Governor told the Financial Times that S Alam and his associates had ‘taken out’ at least 10 billion or 1000 crore dollars from the banking system after taking over several banks with the help of DGFI.
According to him, ‘They have approved loans for themselves every day.’
Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) official Ahsan H Mansoor told the Financial Times last month that he had sought the UK government’s help in investigating the assets of Sheikh Hasina’s associates abroad.
In his latest interview on the banking sector, he said that bank managers were targeted during Sheikh Hasina’s regime.
The governor said some members of the intelligence agency at the time “picked up the bank’s board members from their homes” and then took them to places like hotels. Then ‘at gunpoint’ they were given their shares by ‘Mr. to S Alam’ for sale and asked them to step down as directors.
‘They did it to one bank after another,’ he said.
Ahsan H Mansoor said in his interview that Bangladesh will take steps to recover the stolen money after examining the condition of around 12 banks that were seized during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure.
He said, ‘We want to present this audit report as evidence in the courts of the country and abroad.’
After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, the interim government of Bangladesh banned the sale of shares in these banks.
The governor of Bangladesh Bank said that international legal institutions will be appointed to try to recover the money that the shareholders of the missing bank have smuggled out of the country to Dubai, Singapore or other places.
Meanwhile, a former CEO of a bank told the Financial Times that he was forced to resign during the takeover process.
Mohammad Abdul Mannan, the former chief executive of Islami Bank, said that in 2013 he was pressured by ‘people associated with the then government’. These included the appointment of directors as advised by the Prime Minister’s Office and the search of the hotel room of a foreign director of the bank by ‘persons connected with government bodies’.
Mohammad Abdul Mannan said that in 2017, when he was on his way to the bank’s board meeting, he was taken to meet a senior defense official and then detained for a whole day and forced to resign.
He also said, ‘They created fake bank documents. I ended up having to sign a resignation letter.’
In the last decade S Alam Group has entered the banking business. It has ‘significant investments’ in seven banks, including Islami Bank Bangladesh and First Security Islami Bank, according to the group’s website.
Law firm Queen Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan issued a statement on behalf of Saiful Alam. The S Alam Group said there was “no truth” in the governor’s allegations.
It said, ‘The interim government’s concerted campaign against the S Alam Group and some other leading businesses in Bangladesh has failed to respect even the basic principles of following due process.’
Besides, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) did not respond to their request for comment and the DGFI could not be contacted, Financial Times reported.
